Austria: Tourism is looking forward to “back to normal” after Corona
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the tourism industry has been keeping new corona rules in suspense. This time, with Easter, relief is announced.
The tourism sector breathes a sigh of relief: everyone can go (almost) anywhere at Easter without a mask, without having to be vaccinated, recovered or tested. Now Vienna is also following suit, where 2G falls in gastronomy. “The easing has been received incredibly positively – the symbolic effect of back to normal is also important,” emphasized hotelier spokesman Martin Stanits.
Masks will remain for the time being. “We expect that the mask will remain visible, temporarily – on the guest side, but also on the employee side,” said the representative of the Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV) on Friday in an interview with APA. “It will not be a regulation, if so, but we will agree on it.” The wearing of corona protection masks in accommodation facilities and bars – which is no longer officially required – will then disappear with the further decline in the number of infections. “In a few weeks it will be the exception,” Stanits expects.
Tourism: After gastronomy and hotels, night gastronomy is also celebrating
Of course, the hotel industry welcomes the easing. The general opening of gastronomy, including night gastronomy, “can already be seen as a clear signal”. “It’s going in the right direction – we will have an early summer, hopefully without restrictions,” said the ÖHV spokesman. However, the accommodation industry wants to proceed “with care, caution and common sense”. What you live very well with is the recommendation to wear a mask. There is room for creativity there.
The FFP2 mask is only mandatory in hospitals, retirement and nursing homes, public transport and in retail for essential needs, such as in grocery stores, pharmacies, tobacconists and petrol stations. “Most hotels report that most guests have no problem with the mask,” Stanits said. In some cases, however, there are already mask opponents – “a small but very loud minority”.
“In the city hotel industry, you will accept the offer that you can drop the restrictions because you are happy about every guest who comes,” said the ÖHV spokesman. In the holiday hotel industry there will be voluntary “2G islands” here and there – in hotels that want to remain attractive for smaller target groups with this “USP (unique selling point, note)”. “But that won’t be the majority,” the industry spokesman is certain.
City-country gradient at Easter
There is still a clear urban-rural divide in the current Easter bookings – the occupancy of hotels in the holiday regions is 30 to 40 percent higher than in the cities. “We see a slow but steady upward trend since Christmas, with slight setbacks. But things are steadily improving – that gives the industry optimism,” reported Stanits.
Inflation, which is currently soaring, is not yet having a dampening effect on bookings. “It may not have that much impact this summer – we will notice it, but not to the same extent.” The industry representative estimates that this “will shift to the next winter season”.
The long-distance markets continue to cause concern for the tourism sector: Although airlines are currently expanding their long-haul programmes, tourists from overseas are still largely absent – this particularly affects the city hotel industry, which mainly lives from this group of guests. In the Far East and Asia there is reluctance because of Corona, in the USA and Australia because of the war in Ukraine, Stanits reported. “They avoid Europe for fear of war. There, 800 kilometers are nothing.” Overall, travel decisions are made at extremely short notice. “So nothing can be said for the summer yet,” said the industry spokesman.
