Source::Xinhuanet
BERLIN,
Price-adjusted revenues of Germany's hotel and restaurant industry fell by 47.1 percent year-on-year between March 2020 and January 2021, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Monday.
Losses were highest in the months of April and December last year, with revenues plummeting by around 75 percent and 71 percent, respectively, according to Destatis. During the periods, restaurants in Germany were closed while hotels were only allowed to accommodate business travelers.
Even a relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions during the summer months last year "did not bring a full recovery for the industry," Destatis noted. In August, the month with the highest sales for the hospitality industry last year, revenues were still 20 percent lower than in the previous year. As a result of business closures and lower revenues due to the COVID-19 crisis, around one in five jobs in the German hospitality industry was cut between March 2020 and January 2021, according to Destatis.
The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA) had called on the government to lay out a concrete schedule to open businesses of the industry "safely and responsibly." "This is about securing the future of an industry with 222,000 hospitality businesses and 2.4 million employees," said Guido Zoellick, president of DEHOGA, in a statement on Thursday.
However, daily COVID-19 figures have been rising sharply lately, making further openings and relaxations difficult. German media reported that the current lockdown was likely to be extended until at least April 18.
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