Tourism in Lenggries: Big worries about the snow situation

Created: 01/05/2022, 1:00 PM

From: Felicitas Bogner

Antonia Asenstorfer is hoping for colder temperatures and fresh snow.

In the absence of snow, only eleven of 22 slopes and six of 18 lifts on Brauneck are currently open.

© Arndt Pröhl

While the first half of the Christmas holidays for hotel and mountain railway operators in the Isarwinkel could not have gone better so far, disillusionment spreads in the second week off.

This time, Corona is only marginally to blame.

Lenggries -

In the past few days, at least in the tourist areas, there has been a touch of normality over the Isarwinkel. Overnight accommodations were in great demand and the slopes were popular with young and old. But now, in the second week of the holiday, the presence of holidaymakers is flattening out again. The main attraction for tourists in Lenggries is of course the Brauneck. Things have been going on here since the ski season opened in mid-December. “From the first day there was huge interest,” reports Antonia Asenstorfer, press spokeswoman for Alpenplus and the Brauneck ski area. Especially on the weekends and in the week between the years, long queues had formed at the valley station of the Brauneck mountain railway. “The desire to ski is unbroken, but now it has to get colder again and snow more,” she says.Currently, more and more slopes and lifts have to be closed due to the poor snow conditions, she reports.

Brauneck is in great demand from the start of the season 

Christoph Seitz, Director of the Arabella Brauneck Hotel, also experiences the effects of this with: “Some of our guests are currently traveling to the Zugspitze on a daily basis,” he reports. Anneliese Kaltenhauser, deputy head of the Lenggries tourist information office, has also noticed a drop in visitors. “So far, a lot of overnight guests have been here. However, the trend has been declining since January 3rd. ”She is not surprised by this. Because: "Even in the times before the pandemic, the number of overnight stays always fell slightly after the holidays," she knows. “In addition, skiing on the Brauneck is again less attractive due to the lack of snow.” Day-trippers, on the other hand, are still there, according to Kaltenhauser. In addition to fun on the slopes, there are also popular activities in the Isarwinkel. “For example, our lantern walks were always packed.Until last week, the snowshoe hikes were mostly fully booked, ”reports Kaltenhauser. Christoph Seitz also noticed a clear flattening of the number of overnight stays. “From December 25th, things went really well. There were a lot of families and skiers here, ”he says. International clients were also well represented among the guests. "We had a few ski guests from the Benelux countries in particular." But now Seitz can no longer maintain this booking level in his hotel. "In many federal states there are no more holidays, the snow is getting less and less, and due to the corona, all company events and conferences are still canceled." These were often held in January in the Brauneck Hotel. The rooms are now only fully occupied on the weekends.“From Friday to Sunday we were quite busy, even before the holidays, but that alone is not enough,” says the hotel manager.

Since the start of the season there has been a lot going on at Brauneck. However, the rush is currently decreasing. © Wolfgang Müller

Veronika Schalch-Seybold looks at the booking calendar of her Lenggries guest house "zum Jäger" with many question marks. Even if her house was "completely booked out" during the Christmas season, that is now also decreasing again. “The booking behavior of guests is currently shorter than ever,” she says. Spontaneous reservations have become more and more common in the pandemic, "but not to the same extent as they are now," says Schalch-Seybold. Many are unsure about the Corona regulations, other regular guests are afraid of a possible infection while on vacation. "And then I had to cancel some of the unvaccinated", she reports. “The booking behavior of most is overly cautious.” In other words: very short-term and usually only for a few days. “This is of course very time-consuming for me as a vacation rental owner.Many only want to come for two nights. "

Lots of groups with young athletes

The planning uncertainty is bothering her. In addition, Schalch-Seybold noticed that her guest clientele has become a little younger. "There are a lot of small groups of young athletes," notes the owner of "zum Jäger". But she is also aware: "We need more snow again so that guests want to stay the night here." So far, mainly tourists from central and northern Germany have stayed in their holiday apartments. Josef Gerg Junior also hopes for fresh snow. He works in the family business of the drag lifts on the Draxlhang. The flat slopes are still bustling with participants from beginners 'skiers and kids' courses. The artificial snow still holds. “It's been going great since the beginning of the season,” he says. He would meet day trippers as well as holiday guests at the lift. Nevertheless, he is worried about the warm temperatures."Hopefully it will be winter again in the middle of the week," he says.

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