Tourism should start again in Bavaria during the Pentecost holidays. Accommodation companies may reopen under the usual safety regulations. Not all hotels expect a rush. In Oberammergau you have to deal with the aftermath of the passion rejection.
District - vacation in your own country. For many Germans, this is the only way to relax, rest and recuperate in the year 2020, which is shaped by the corona pandemic - and a little rememidemmi. For the hotels in the district, the hope is increasing that tourists will spend their holidays in the Werdenfelser Land and the region instead of in southern European countries.
Right on time for the Pentecost holidays, hotels may again receive guests from May 30th under strict security precautions. For almost two and a half months, nobody could be accommodated for tourist purposes. So now the restart. And yet everything is different.
Garmischer Hof and Posthotel Mittenwald: positive mood
The number of reservations varies widely between companies. Daniel Schimmer, manager of the "Garmischer Hof", is enthusiastic: "We received many bookings for Pentecost. We are almost fully utilized through Corpus Christi. ”
The Posthotel Mittenwald is also pleased to welcome many guests to the reopening: "Two thirds of us are fully booked during Pentecost holidays," says hotel director Gudrun Rademacher.
Oberammergau: Hotel crashes due to cancellation of passion
The situation in Oberammergau is different. The community feels the cancellation of the Passion Play enormously. Björn Köppen, Authorized Officer at the Parkhotel Sonnenhof Oberammergau: “Due to the cancellation we fell from one hundred to zero percent. All of our guests had booked because of the Passion Play. ”With 25 guests, the second week of vacation is the most popular. For comparison: the hotel has capacities for over 100 tourists.
Striking: If the district was previously interesting for short vacationers, many tourists booked a long-term stay over Pentecost.
Before the first travelers arrived at the weekend, everything about the new hygiene requirements had to work like clockwork. The houses have found their own ways to keep their distance at breakfast. The Garmischer Hof will divide its guests into several groups, each with its own time window, to take the "most important meal of the day". At the Parkhotel Sonnenhof Oberammergau, every room has its own reserved table. In order to be able to keep the distances, a maximum of 65 percent of the rooms may be occupied. And in the Posthotel Mittenwald, guests can choose whether they want to have their breakfast in the room or in a breakfast room.
No buffet, more staff required
Buffets in Corona times? Forbidden. All meals are served à la carte. In order to be able to serve the guests and still adhere to the distance regulations, the houses need more staff than usual. "Starting this Saturday, we have as much effort with a half-full house as with a completely full one," Gudrun Rademacher points out. Her employees brought them all back from short-time working for June. At Björn Köppen in Oberammergau, on the other hand, 80 percent of the workforce had to stay on short-time work due to a lack of bookings: "If only ten rooms are occupied, I hardly need any staff." He hopes that the months of July and August will improve in the form of guests bring.
Marco Blanco Ucles
Also interesting: Passion souvenirs find buyers worldwide despite the cancellation