The pandemic is affecting those striving for a cure.

The spa towns have to live with lost sales, and many spa workers have lost their jobs because of the closings ordered by the authorities.

In a study, the health resorts in Hessen examined and quantified the financial loss caused by the corona pandemic.

Jan Schiefenhövel

Freelance author in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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For this purpose, the years 2019 and 2020 were compared with each other, as Michael Köhler said, mayor of Bad Zwesten in Northern Hesse and chairman of the Hessian spa association, which brings together 30 health resorts and spas.

According to him, the loss of sales at the Hessian health resorts last year amounted to 891 million euros.

According to the study, the number of overnight stays fell from 10.2 million in 2019 to 6.6 million last year.

"That really hurts us"

The losses included, for example, the loss of income from health resorts and thermal baths, the loss of income for the municipalities from the visitor's tax, but also the decline in sales at hotels, cafes and shops in the health resorts when fewer guests are in the village. The representative of the spa towns speaks of “clear cuts”: “That really hurts us.” In his words, part of the infrastructure in the spa resorts is also lost. Traditional shops or restaurants that did not reopen after the precautionary measures were relaxed would have to close, said Köhler on Thursday at a press conference on the sidelines of a conference of the spa association in Bad Soden-Salmünster.

In the spa industry, according to the study, jobs are lost due to the loss of income. While there were still 38,180 jobs in 2019, only 23,480 jobs were counted for the past year - around a third less. In fact, even more employees are affected because for the comparison, the working hours of part-time positions were not included in full-time positions. Those affected include doctors and nurses in the spa clinics, employees of the tourist information and other municipal facilities, but also gardeners from spa parks.

The loss of sales and jobs primarily affects rural areas, as Dominik Brasch explained, the non-party mayor of the spa town of Bad Soden-Salmünster in the Main-Kinzig district.

According to him, 90 percent of the rehabilitation clinics are located in small towns outside the metropolitan areas.

For the health resorts and their surroundings, the health resort represents an important economic factor, also due to the demand from the health resort facilities, from which suppliers and service providers live.

Each day the thermal baths are closed costs around 7500 euros

The spa town in the Kinzigtal had to accept a loss of more than one million euros per year this and last year just because of the closure of its Spessart thermal baths, said Brasch.

In each of the two years, the bath was closed for 160 days.

Each closing day costs the city around 7500 euros.

The thermal brine bath dates back to 1975 and is due to be refurbished for the next few years, so the loss is particularly significant.

The health resort also makes a contribution to tourism in Hessen.

According to figures from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, 28 percent of all overnight stays are at the health resorts.

According to the association, overnight guests spend an average of 151 euros.

The spa towns attract day visitors and day trippers who spend an average of 29 euros a day.