Hotels and inns have reopened. But are the longed-for vacationers coming too? How do hoteliers and restaurateurs look to the future? The Breisgau editorial team asked around.
Merzhausen
“These are losses like after the war,” says Johannes Isaak, who runs the Hotel bei Hirschen in Merzhausen and is the owner. Due to the lockdown, the guests stayed away, with May traditionally being the strongest month for business. Isaak puts his losses at around 50,000 euros. He received state support of 9,000 euros. And even at Pentecost, only three or four rooms were rented. You have to know: Isaak does not operate a classic holiday hotel as in many Black Forest towns, but rather a business hotel.
The guests stayed away. “You can forget that,” says Isaac. He assumes that it will be tough, until September the calm will drag. “Thank God I saved money,” said Isaac. The hotelier wanted to convert a conference room that is not used very much into an apartment. That turns out now. But Isaac can also gain something positive from the crisis. That could have to do with age, which makes him look at things more calmly. “Many companies have literally exploded in recent years,” says Isaac. The motto was growth at all costs. However, his business had grown slowly and with certainty. Now it shows that sound business is healthier in the long run and is rewarded in times of crisis. Something else Isaac observed: “People have learned that they can make do with less.” That is not so bad at all.
Wittnau
Eliane Winterhalter tries to spread optimism. “We hope that things will get better now,” says the owner of the Hotel zum Hirschen in Wittnau. Because guests had hardly come in the past few months. Some craftsmen who were on assembly and were allowed to stay overnight with the permission of their company were there – otherwise the twelve rooms were empty. The permanent employees were sent on short-time work and there was almost no work for the temporary workers. Winterhalter ran the hotel business for the craftsmen together with her husband and son. Compared to the failures, state aid is a drop in the bucket. “If we had to pay rent, it would be really hard,” says Winterhalter.
But because the family saved some money and the inn and hotel …
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