Sunday, September 4, 2022

Closures Story

 Covid changed a lot of things on the German landscape.  This week....our regional public TV folks (HR) did a long talk about approaching bankruptcies in the state of Hessen with hotels and restaurants.

So here is the deal...a fair number of them are writing up the bankruptcy paperwork and will file in the next six months.  

How it looks?  Around fifty percent will dissolve.

Most are blaming inflation and energy cost.

Natural gas cost estimate?  It's nine times what it was in 2020.

Where this is going?  At a minimum for those who survive....massive increases in cost will occur.  Hotels will swing prices up per room, and a simple dinner at a restaurant that used to be 18 Euro per person (with a drink) will probably go to the 25 Euro level, and beyond.

It wouldn't shock me if I walked into a restaurant in January, and the heating was lowered to the 16 C (61 F) level.  

Shocking some folks?  Well...you could be in what was a tourist district ten years ago with a dozen hotels operating, and by spring of 2023....find only six open.  

Surging prices will scare the crap out of some tourists, and it might take several years for them to realize nothing is going back down in price. 

When you start to think about it....a lot of what Germany had to offer before Covid and the recession....brought in a large number of non-German tourists.  But with this new landscape....would you venture to Germany with the prices and lesser options?  

No comments: