Germany: despite the deconfinement, Bavaria is pessimistic about the recovery of tourism

Text by: Anastasia Becchio Follow

Deconfinement continues in Bavaria, the region most hit by the Covid-19 in Germany and which has adopted fairly strict containment measures. Since the beginning of the week, restaurants have had the right to welcome customers inside and hotels reopen their doors to tourists on this Pentecost Saturday. However, professionals linked to tourism remain pessimistic.

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From our special correspondent in Munich, 

At the entrance to the historic center of Munich, four taxi drivers kill time. Customers have been a scarce commodity for more than two months. Hamid Saim knows something about it.

“  I have never experienced a major crisis like this with my colleagues. I have a turnover drop of 80%, he testifies. Fortunately that now they are starting to deconfinate little by little, the restaurant has the right to open a little longer, the hotels reopen. It's going to last, it's not going to shoot up like many people think, it will take patience  ”.

Like hoteliers, tour guides theoretically have the right to resume their activity on this Pentecost weekend. But with measures of social distancing and without clearly established rules for the profession, Kathrin Liakov, French-speaking guide does not expect to find work anytime soon.

"  We will be told that we are not allowed to have more than ten people in one place, with social distancing, we will spend our time telling people that it takes 1.5 meters between each person, she laments. Afterwards, that doesn't mean that people will be there, the French ministers who advise against leaving French territory, so we can't say that it really makes us happy. Having spoken with colleagues, it would be very very optimistic to believe that there will be a recovery before 2021  "

Another blow for tourism professionals: the cancellation of the Oktoberfest in late September. The previous one had generated spinoffs of more than a billion euros.

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• Germany
• Tourism
• Coronavirus