Corona tourism: hiking on the Spessart tracks

More and more people are discovering the Spessart as an attractive tourist destination in times of the pandemic.

The Spessart Tourism and Marketing Society of the Main-Kinzig district reported an eight percent increase in overnight stays last year despite the corona restrictions.

A total of 958,810 overnight stays were registered.

The number of guest arrivals rose by 4.2 percent to 19,276.

The length of stay increased to an average of 4.9 days.

In 2020 it was 4.8 days and the year before only 3.8 days.

Bernhard Mosbacher, Managing Director of the company, considers the result remarkable because the overnight accommodations had to remain closed from January to May during the lockdown, so that tourists were only allowed to be accommodated in seven out of twelve months.

The only exceptions were work-related overnight stays.

Luise Glaser-Lotz

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Kinzig district.

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According to Mosbacher, the situation for the accommodation providers and restaurateurs was not easy between June and December either.

The restrictions caused by the pandemic have had a negative impact on the Christmas business, which is important for the industry, according to a survey by the Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA) among its members in Hesse.

Different level of difficulty

On the other hand, the number of guests in summer and autumn is impressive.

According to Mosbacher, new record values ​​were reached in the summer months, which even exceeded the successful year 2019.

Holiday apartments, campsites and camper sites were in high demand again.

The expansion and the increase in attractiveness of the hiking trails were particularly worthwhile in the past year.

The company determines interest by accessing its topic pages on the Internet at

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The Spessart tracks and Spessart tracks were clicked on very frequently, followed by Spessart arches and cycling/mountain biking.

The signposted hiking trails differ in length, degree of difficulty and scenic characteristics.

According to Mosbacher, the Spessartspuren initiated by the Hessischer Spessart Nature Park are the most popular.

According to Mosbacher, the hiking booklet with hiking map that was published at the end of the year hit the right nerve.

The first edition is now sold out, and a new edition is to follow.

The Main-Kinzig district is also in a good position compared to the entire state of Hesse, where the number of guests fell by 1.9 percent according to statistics.

But also in Hesse as a whole, the number of overnight stays rose to 18,784,321, which corresponds to an increase of 1.6 percent.

In other rural regions, the development was similar to that in the Hessian Spessart, for example in the Vogelsberg, in the district of Fulda or in the Taunus.

In the Main-Kinzig district, the spa town of Bad Orb in particular was able to celebrate an increase in the number of overnight stays.

Overnight stays increased by 20.4 percent to 323,941, with a total of 37,013 guests.

Slightly increased length of stay

The tourism industry in the Bavarian Spessart and the Mainviereck also recorded growth compared to the previous year.

However, due to the restrictions and the lockdown, overnight stays and arrivals were still a long way from the pre-Corona levels.

Tourism continued to suffer greatly from Corona, according to Michael Seiterle, Managing Director of the Spessart-Mainland Tourism Association.

The loss for the tourism industry due to the lockdown in the first half of the year is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.

According to Seiterle, the number of guests arriving in accommodation establishments with ten beds and more was around 487,000 last year, an increase of 3.6 percent compared to the previous year.

The number of overnight stays increased by 7.3 percent to a good 1.5 million.

Compared to the pre-Corona year 2019, the number of overnight stays is around two thirds.

The average length of stay increased slightly to 3.1 days.

The vast majority of guests came from Germany last year as well.

According to Seiterle, the proportion of foreign visitors was less than ten percent.

Similar to the colleagues on the Hessian Spessart website, Seiterle also reports an increased interest in the association's website and a positive development in online bookings.

"With the implementation of the Spessart Mainland app, the upgrading of the quality hiking trails in Germany with 43 audio stations, the publication of the holiday magazine and the group travel catalogue, and the new Spessart-Gebabbel podcast format, we are providing the appropriate impetus for the expected revival of tourist demand." , says Seiterle.