The holiday resorts on the coast fill up with holidaymakers again after many weeks of corona-related forced breaks. But even if many tourists want to take a break from everyday corona life – the virus remains present even on vacation.
Tourists can gradually return to the islands and beaches on the North and Baltic Seas. Mecklenburg-West Pomerania is also slowly returning to the mode of a holiday destination. After the shutdown in mid-March, the tourism industry was able to welcome guests from its own country last week. From Monday, people from other federal states can now go to the northeast – but under certain conditions. The most important thing is that you have to book an overnight stay in a hotel, a guest house or a campsite. For day tourists, the national borders remain tight for the time being.
Here is an overview of the current corona loosening in all federal states.
When you get there, things are as usual. But because of the corona pandemic and the associated restrictions, the holiday by the sea will be different this year than usual. “A Sylt holiday, as many have been used to in previous years, cannot and will not exist this summer,” says the Head of Sylt Marketing, Moritz Luft. What do holidaymakers have to prepare for and what do they have to bring with them? A corona etiquette.
Masks
A mouth-and-nose cover will also be a constant companion on holiday – regardless of whether you are browsing in your favorite boutique, shopping in a supermarket or taking a bus trip across the islands. It is mandatory to wear an everyday mask in Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in public transport and in shops.
distance
“This is practiced on the mainland and the guests bring it with them,” says Göran Sell, managing director of the tourism company on Borkum, the largest East Frisian island. Many places have created their own posters and information material with the applicable corona rules or developed one-way street systems at the beach entrance in order to remind the “by far the best guests in the world” – as it is called in Sankt Peter-Ording – of the commandments of the hour. And if it gets a little too narrow on the beach and promenade? “Go on a tour of discovery, because: It goes on behind the beach!” Recommends the Lübeck Bay tourism agency. Julia Lund from Sylt Marketing has the following tip: “Find peace and avoid hotspots.”
getting there
One-way street rules on board, a traffic light with red and green marked seats, mask requirement or capacity restrictions: The ferry operators that sail to the North and East Frisian Islands have thought a lot about taking their guests safely on vacation. If you want, you can, for example, sit in the car on the crossing to Föhr and Amrum, unlike in pre-Corona times. When traveling by train, the same rules apply as at home.
Patience and consideration
They are virtues that vacationers should bring to their travel destinations from Usedom to Borkum. The situation is also unusual and new for hoteliers, retailers and restaurant operators, as touristists emphasize in many places. And other holidaymakers should also be taken into account – whether in the queue at the bakery, on a walk on the beach or by not making the visit to the restaurant too long with limited capacities, so that other guests also have a chance to get a seat.
accommodation
When you get to the hotel or apartment, a lot will be different. Information folders in the room, newspapers in the foyer and other utensils that are difficult to clean, which are often picked up by different people, are not allowed in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example. There will also be no breakfast buffets, and the wellness areas in many hotels are currently still closed.
Visiting a restaurant
Spontaneously eating out, maybe even with the nice family from the apartment next door? It won’t be that easy. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, no more than six guests are allowed to be at one table. Reservation is also recommended in the coastal countries, even where it is not mandatory. Because if you reserve, you avoid the risk of being rejected due to insufficient capacity, according to the Tourismus GmbH auf Föhr.
Events
“The program is in nature,” says Borkum’s managing director, Göran Sell, describing what the current situation is not only on the largest East Frisian island. In many places, larger and smaller events have been canceled well into the summer. Guided mudflat hikes or sports on the beach are often possible, although under the now known restrictions. Vacationers should also inquire about what is and what is not. For example, outdoor pools and amusement parks in Lower Saxony may reopen on May 25, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania only the outdoor pools on the same day. However, opening dates for such facilities in Schleswig-Holstein were not yet available.
These rules now apply in the outdoor pool.
Beach life
Bathing in the sea is always possible – “the North Sea is always open,” says Heligoland, where the public outdoor pool is also still closed. The lifeguards are already in use in many places. But the same applies to swimming as it does to sunbathing, walking on the beach and sports: the well-known hygiene rules and minimum distances must be observed, as the marketing coordinator of the East Frisian Islands GmbH, Marc Klinke, says. In order to be able to maintain the minimum distance in the beach chairs on the North and Baltic Sea beaches, they were placed accordingly. Before use, they must also be disinfected, as is said in Binz on Rügen and Sylt. In addition, placing or placing other objects between the beach chairs, for example in Binz, is not permitted.
– .
