Around 70,000 hotels and GastronomyCompanies are said to be in the Corona crisis to face bankruptcy. The “Bild am Sonntag” reports with reference to the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga). The approximately 223,000 companies in the industry lost around ten billion euros in sales by the end of April. “Without additional government support, every third company is facing bankruptcy,” said Dehoga’s chief executive, Ingrid Hartges. “These are 70,000 often owner-managed companies that make up the gastronomic diversity of our country.”
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The Relaxation of the corona rules in Germany mainly concern business. Hartges described the fact that there was no perspective for gastronomy as a disappointment: “We had to close first and will probably have to suffer the longest.” The association calls for a responsible opening of restaurants and cafes, a reduction in VAT to seven percent and a state rescue fund with direct aid for businesses, similar to the drought aid for farmers in 2018.
The CSU wants to make this demand a topic in the next coalition committee. “The seven percent must now come in the coalition,” said CSU General Secretary Markus Blume of the “Bild am Sonntag”: “The tax relief provides a win-win effect for consumers and hosts. We can also create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the catering trade to back up.”
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Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) announced “help and support” for the catering trade, so that they can get back on their feet after the crisis has subsided. “We will also need additional help here so that the majority of the companies do not give up and disappear from the market,” said Altmaier. Altmaier called the drop in VAT to seven percent a “proposal that deserves careful consideration”. But he can also imagine help with modernization and cost savings.
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