As the first German tour operator, Leitner Reisen from Middle Franconia will switch to the 2G rule from October.
Customers welcome the move.
Allersberg - For a long time, Christoph Führer and his employees were condemned to idleness.
Corona * immediately paralyzed the business of the medium-sized tour operator Leitner Reisen from Allersberg (district of Roth *).
“We weren't allowed to travel again until June,” says the managing director, who has been with the company for two years.
In order for the medium-sized company to be able to bring its "carefree offers" to the customer for a long time to come, Führer has decided to take a not undisputed step.
From October onwards, only those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered will be allowed to go on vacation with Leitner.
Corona: Bavarian tour operator switches to 2G - allegation of proximity to Söder
The decision to go with 2G was by no means politically motivated, emphasizes the managing director.
And that he only does this for his buddy Markus Söder * (CSU) - as some critics accuse him on social media - is also completely absurd.
"There is no alleged proximity to Söder," jokes Führer in an interview with
Merkur.de
.
It is only the logical consequence to be able to continue to give his customers a carefree guarantee for their trips.
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A large percentage of travelers are already fully vaccinated. Of 40 customers, perhaps four have not yet received an injection for Corona *, according to Führer. And that's exactly where the problem is. He does not want to exclude anyone with his decision, but a trip with unvaccinated people sometimes leads to massive restrictions for all customers.
Fuehrer does the math.
His company offers many program trips.
If travelers want to travel through Switzerland and Italy on different trains, they would often have to submit new corona tests *.
“Soon every day in Italy.” On the one hand, that costs a lot of money and time in Switzerland (according to ADAC, PCR tests there can cost up to 340 euros).
40 people would then have to wait for four fellow travelers and might miss their train connection.
"Then they are not only mad at us, but also at the four who were not vaccinated."
Corona: Bavarian tour operator switches to 2G - "Responsible for the health of customers"
From a business perspective, too, Führer opted for the 2G rule.
“As a tour operator, we are responsible for the health of our customers.” According to the current state of knowledge, those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered are best protected against the disease.
Especially when the numbers in the various travel destinations around the world keep increasing.
“We can react in the short term if countries are classified as high-incidence areas.
We then take the respective offer from our range.
But I hope that in September a new system will be found across Europe in which the incidence is no longer the focus, ”says Führer.
This could, for example, be a hospital traffic light, as announced by the Bavarian Prime Minister.
+
The managing director of Leitner Reisen, Christoph Führer, stands by his decision and is therefore sometimes attacked on the net.
© Berthold Steinhilber / Leitner Reisen
Corona in Bavaria - customers are happy about the tour operator's move to switch to 2G
Fuehrer is not condemned by his customers for the hitherto unique step among Germany's tour operators.
On the contrary.
"I get a lot of positive feedback every day." Since the entrepreneur announced the switch to 2G, bookings have increased rapidly.
In the past few days there has been growth of up to 140 percent.
And the number of new customers has also increased significantly, said Führer.
Various cruise operators observed something similar, many of which switched to 2G even earlier.
The fact that he is polarizing with his decision, however, can be felt above all on the company profiles in the social networks. In addition to the unfounded Söder allegations, he is also attacked personally. "Sometimes I am threatened or jokes are made about my surname." Everyone is allowed to express their opinion, that is very important to Führer. “And if that's the price of freedom of expression, then I'll be happy to
endure it
.”
(Tel)
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