Weimar/Lauterbach/Erfurt (dpa/th) - After a significant slump in the number of overnight stays at the beginning of the corona pandemic, Thuringia's youth hostels are looking to the future with cautious optimism. "We hope for the best, but are prepared for the worst," said Marc Nawrodt, spokesman for the Thuringian regional association of the German Youth Hostel Association (DJH). From January to July of this year, the 16 Thuringian youth hostels reported around 118,000 overnight stays. Before the Corona crisis in 2019, there were almost 151,000 in this period.
The hostels are concerned about the uncertain outlook for autumn and winter. For fear of new travel restrictions, there will be significantly fewer bookings from October. On the other hand, it is positive that there are already numerous reservations for the coming year 2023. Similar to the hotel business, rising energy prices and the lack of staff are also causing problems for youth hostels.
