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Kiel (dpa / lno) - The tourism industry in Schleswig-Holstein suffered a severe setback in the Corona year 2020, but got away with it more lightly than in almost all other federal states.

This year, maybe already at Easter, the revival of tourism in the land between the seas should begin.

Economics Minister Bernd Buchholz (FDP) relies on corona vaccinations, strict hygiene concepts and quick tests to "get tourism back on the road to success" in the country.

Demand is still extremely cautious.

But he expected “that the bookings will jump massively”, said Buchholz on Wednesday.

The question of opening the accommodation facilities as early as Easter should be decided at the deliberations of the federal and state governments on March 22nd.

Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) had repeatedly expressed optimism about an opening at Easter in the past few days.

Last year the industry between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea suffered dramatic losses due to long closings.

The number of overnight stays in houses with at least ten beds fell by almost 20 percent to just under 29 million and that of guests by a good 30 percent to 6.2 million.

The decline, however, was significantly less than the national average.

In terms of the number of overnight stays, Schleswig-Holstein almost fell back to the level of 2016.

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The state between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea improved in the ranking of the federal states in terms of overnight stays by one place to fourth place behind Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony.

The undisputed front-runner in tourism, Bavaria, had to cope with a drop in overnight stays that was more than twice as strong as in Schleswig-Holstein with 40.6 percent.

The biggest winner in the crisis year was camping tourism in Schleswig-Holstein with an increase of almost nine percent.

Holiday apartments and houses were also among the winners.

On the losing side, youth hostels and city tourism performed particularly poorly.

The managing director of the Schleswig-Holstein tourism agency, Bettina Bunge, said she expected strong competition for tourists.

"Everyone wants something from the cake."

In Schleswig-Holstein this year, particular attention should be paid to destinations away from the coast.

She is convinced that the guests wanted to travel.

"The suitcases are packed, people are longing to travel."

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Buchholz advocated not only looking at the incidence value, which in Schleswig-Holstein has been stable for days below the mark of 50 infections per 100,000 people within seven days.

One also has to consider the situation in the health system.

He doesn't believe in day-to-day decisions.

Short-term opening and closing of shops or hotels is not a prospect.

With regard to day tourists, the minister said that he could not imagine the country being sealed off.

At the local level, however, appropriate decisions could be made if, for example, there is a risk of overcrowding on a beach.

The minister underlined the economic importance of the tourism industry for Schleswig-Holstein.

Before the Corona crisis, tourism generated gross sales of 9.7 billion euros per year and thus contributed 5.6 percent to total national income.

According to his information, almost 60,000 people in the country make a living as employees from tourism.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210310-99-766393 / 2