Constantly changing travel regulations, risk areas and closed hotels - travel companies in the Würmtal are fighting for survival.
The demand is there, but there are no bookings.
The uncertainty is too great.
Würmtal
- “The travel industry has been hit hard,” says Holger Voigt, owner of the SWS travel agency in Planegg.
“We only earn money when the customer is also away.” Since the outbreak of the pandemic, around 90 percent fewer trips have been booked with him than in previous years.
Much of the vacation plans had to be canceled.
He is currently living on the reserves he has earned over the past 22 years.
His only employee has been on short-time work for eleven months.
No bookings for this year yet
“Nothing is calculable.
I only book at short notice for my customers, around seven to 14 days before departure, ”says Voigt.
One cannot currently plan further into the future.
He had to cancel all trips planned until March.
Last summer, some customers bought a trip to Greece or Spain from him.
There are no new bookings for this year.
The planning uncertainty with the constantly changing travel regulations is too great.
But there is also something positive at these times: For those who stay at home, Holger Voigt now also delivers wines from Austria and Italy to their doorstep, which are otherwise only available from local winemakers.
That doesn't cover his costs, but he can at least use his closed travel agency as a sales area - and at least bring the taste of vacation home to his customers.
Zero planning security
“We have zero planning security and nobody knows what to do next,” says the manager of the Filser bus travel service in Planegg, and continues: “It is far from difficult.
The location and the view are absolutely shitty. ”Normally, his bus travel service is fully booked: He and his employees would pick up guests from all over the world from the airport, make day trips, organize city tours and offer visits to the Oktoberfest.
His service is also frequently booked for trips by companies, parishes and associations.
Due to the pandemic, all of this will now disappear.
Buses are rusting away
He hasn't got a single order for this year.
The last bus trip, three days to Venice, was fully booked in August.
Tourist bus rides have been banned since November.
The five buses of the Planegger travel company would now rust away unused, and the last of the original eight employees has now also resigned due to the corona.
The school bus driver training that the entrepreneur completed last year was also not worth it because of the school closings.
Holiday homes particularly popular
The Graefelfingen travel provider Domizile Reisen is also struggling with the effects of the pandemic.
"We have around 80 percent fewer bookings than usual," says managing director Arthur Mattejat.
The interest in traveling is great, but the bookings are still "very restrained".
Some customers have concerns about traveling by air and are now looking for vacation destinations that can be reached by car.
Vacation homes are particularly popular at the moment.
“It went very well from June to August, when many of our holiday homes were booked in Ibiza, Greece or Spain,” says Mattejat.
With the second corona wave, it went steeply downhill again.
“Now would be the main booking season, we hope that it will get better in summer.
Check the list of risk areas regularly
“The demand is there, but it is currently very difficult to plan,” says Oliver Eßmann from the Tui travel agency in Graefelfing.
He recommends that his customers be flexible when it comes to rebooking and regularly check the list of risk areas on the Robert Koch Institute's website.
Package tours and flex tariffs are currently the safest way to get your money refunded in the event of a cancellation.
LARA LISTL
