After the Corona lull: Tourists are coming back to Munich

Created: 05/17/2022, 11:12 am

By: Claudia Schuri

Gabriel Valencia (37), Nory Flores (36) and Nicolás (7) come from Peru and are visiting Munich.

© Jens Hartmann

The corona pandemic has hit the industry badly: there has been a lull in tourism in recent months.

But things are slowly picking up again – the travelers are coming back.

They are on a tour of Europe - and are also stopping in Munich: Gabriel Valencia (37), Nory Flores (36) and Nicolás (7) are from Peru, but now they are discovering the Bavarian capital.

The Marienplatz, the English Garden, the Nymphenburg Palace - there is a lot to see for the family from Lima.

"The architecture, the culture and the history are wonderful and the weather is just perfect," says Gabriel Valencia.

The Peruvians have also tried a Bavarian roast pork: "It tastes great."

Like the family, more tourists are visiting Munich again after the Corona lull.

It can be clearly seen everywhere: the travelers are coming back to Bavaria.

Most of the Corona measures have been lifted, events are taking place again, temperatures are rising - and travel is picking up speed again.

The figures for April are not yet available, but the trend is clear: there were 861,961 overnight stays in Munich in March, which is over 260,000 more than in February.

Compared to March 2021, it even means an increase of 212 percent.

"According to our own expectations, the one million overnight stays mark can be cracked again in April," reports a spokesman for the city's economic department.

The occupancy of Munich hotels is also steadily increasing: in April it was 51.8 percent again.

Restaurateurs are more confident again

The restaurateurs are happy too.

"The hoteliers are confident again and are happy about the good occupancy figures," says Christian Schottenhamel, the Munich district chairman of the hotel and restaurant association Dehoga.

"This also goes hand in hand with the fact that more trade fairs are taking place again." The Asian travel market is still reduced.

"But Italians, Spaniards or Americans are coming back," he explains.

Domestic German tourism is also still strong.

According to the statistics, in March 65 percent of Munich's tourists came from Germany, followed by the USA, Austria, the Arab Gulf States, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Tour guide Reidun Alvestad-Aschenbrenner has the impression that tourists are now becoming more international again.

"In May I had more English-speaking tours again," says the chairwoman of the Munich Association of Tourist Guides.

Guided tours without restrictions

She has experienced that the Passion Play in Oberammergau also has a positive effect.

“Many visitors stay in Munich for a day or two before or after,” she says.

When war broke out in Ukraine, there were a few cancellations.

Now that is hardly the case.

There are also almost no longer any corona restrictions on guided tours.

Only in some sights a mask has to be worn.

"Many groups are a bit smaller," she reports.

"We are not yet at the pre-corona level."

Not yet reached pre-corona level

That will probably take some time: "Overall, the total number of overnight stays in 2019 will not be reached," is the assessment of the economic department.

Munich Tourism expects the domestic market and most European markets to reach pre-pandemic levels over the course of the year.

But: “The long-distance markets in particular will need even longer to recover,” says the department spokesman.

This is also due to the fact that the flight connections are still reduced.

There are further challenges for the catering trade: "In many hotels, the prices are still significantly reduced," reports Schottenhamel.

In addition, many employees have left the industry.

"There's a lack of employees, from dishwashers to cooks," he complains.

Many innkeepers should have already restricted the opening hours or the menu.

"We have to give young people the feeling again that we are an exciting industry."