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Potsdam (dpa / bb) - According to a survey, the majority of hotels and restaurants in Brandenburg see their existence at risk in the corona pandemic - also due to a lack of financial aid.
70 percent of businesses feared bankruptcy, as a survey by the Hotel and Restaurant Association Brandenburg (Dehoga) revealed.
Around 17 percent of those surveyed are thinking about giving up their business.
For Dehoga President Olaf Schöpe, the numbers are an “alarm signal”.
"If we don't want to risk 30 years of building up tourism in Brandenburg, then it is high time to act," he said on Monday.
In 30 percent of the companies, employees have already quit in order to switch to another industry.
Above all, Schöpe criticized the lack of financial support for the industry.
He reported that the vast majority had not received any aid except for an advance payment of EUR 10,000 shortly before Christmas.
Schöpe showed understanding that not everything can be planned in advance in a pandemic.
He could not understand that it takes almost 3 months to pay out promised aid.
According to the survey, only 17.4 percent of companies received Bridging Aid I and 10.4 percent were Bridging Aid II.
The Dehoga president emphasized that almost 50 percent of restaurateurs have now offered a pick-up service, and a large number even a delivery service.
"That proves that we work and do not want to be dependent on government support."
He expects clear signals from politics, also for the time after the lockdown.
The extension of the reduced VAT rate on food would be such a signal, suggested Schöpe.
Due to a lack of sales, this "support instrument" has not yet been able to take effect.