Therme Erding is slowly recovering

Therme Erding was particularly hard hit by the corona lockdown.

It has been open again since the end of June - with a limited number of visitors.

Erding - the thermal baths were closed for almost three months during the first corona wave - forcibly shut down by the health department.

The largest wellness facility in the world has been open again since June 24 - and is gradually recovering.

So far not a single case of infection is known here, the hygiene concept seems to be taking effect.

But precisely this paper is slowing down the recovery in Erdings Südsee.

“In theory, we would have a daily capacity of a little over 6000 visitors,” reports authorized signatory Marcus Maier in an interview with our newspaper.

But not even in the high season during the summer holidays have you reached the maximum.

"At the peak there were 4500 guests a day," says Maier.

This was due to the fact that, especially on the weekends and during the holidays, the guests often stayed the whole day.

The thermal baths built in a control instrument: "We made the day ticket more expensive by six euros or 20 percent and intensively advertised our six-hour ticket on the other side," said the managing director.

The goal: at least two major guest changes per day.

But many would have preferred to stay all day.

Maier's interim conclusion four months after the re-opening: “We are doing very well under the current framework conditions, we can be satisfied.” While there were up to 10,000 guests on the peak days before Corona, it is now a maximum of half.

Can you even be economical there?

"If things go well, it will be a black zero this year," says Maier, cautiously optimistic.

His observation: the guests have become more cautious.

On the other hand, the offers where you can book self-contained rooms are booming, such as the hut village next to the Galaxy slide park or the lake chalets in the sauna area.

“We have around 40 percent fewer guests, but the booths have 80 to 90 percent more demand,” says Maier.

The Hotel Victory is also doing very well.

The authorized signatory reports an "incredible demand".

The utilization is already at 95 to 100 percent.

The guest house is also well occupied.

During the week, the cautious wait-and-see attitude does not have such a strong impact.

“We used to have around 3,200 guests a day, now it's around 2,800.” The discrepancy is significantly greater on weekends and public holidays.

As expected, the frequency decreased after the summer holidays, “but at the moment we are benefiting from the fact that some federal states are taking autumn holidays”.

Maier advises all visitors to make a reservation in advance at www.therme-erding.de.

Otherwise there is a risk of being rejected or put on hold.

One observation is noticeable: “The more full the bathroom, the more complaints are received due to alleged violations of the distance rule in particular.” Therefore, the staff make sure that individual pools and saunas are not overflowed.

There are individual maximums.

The strong air circulation systems, installed against the rust and for a pleasant room climate, play in the hands of the thermal baths in Corona times: The air is constantly renewed, the virus risk is reduced.

Maier is convinced that if the restrictions increase, the thermal baths could stay open regularly.

When serving alcohol one is strict, from 10 p.m. it is over anyway.

Group visits are already the exception today.