According to figures from the Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV), 16 percent of hotels have had to close in the past two years.
Many hotels in Vienna did not survive the pandemic – 16 percent had to close in the past two years, as the “Kronen Zeitung” reported on Sunday with reference to data from the Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV). Some let leases expire, others didn’t want to continue. “Especially some small family businesses could not survive,” said the specialist group chairman in the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, Dominic Schmid.
“Owned businesses need a capacity utilization of 50 percent, those in lease 75 percent – just to cover the costs,” said the industry spokesman. The prospects for the coming months are not rosy either. “We’re happy to achieve 60 percent occupancy in the summer. But that makes it very difficult to break even,” emphasized Schmid. At the same time, some of the state economic aid is running out. According to the Chamber of Commerce, there are currently still credit guarantees and short-time work. The default bonus can only be applied for from January to March.
While the holiday hotel industry is recovering, the cities are still lacking tourists. While tourist overnight stays – viewed across Austria – reached more than 76 percent of the pre-corona level of 2019 in February, it was only 43 percent in Vienna, the report goes on to say. According to the information, 17.6 million overnight stays were booked in Vienna in 2019, in 2021 there were only 4.9 million – almost 13 million fewer.
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