The corona crisis dealt a heavy blow to tourism in the capital after many years of growth. Kieker expects eleven to twelve million hotel nights in 2020, which would correspond to a decrease of 70 percent. The tourism and culture industry has probably lost eight billion euros in sales.
“These one and a half years of Corona will hopefully be a dropout,” said Kieker. He expects a recovery, even if the effects of the crisis on the purchasing power of visitors are unclear. “City trips are second or third trips,” explained Kieker. But he emphasized: “We will have overcome the consequences of the crisis by 2024 at the latest.”
According to the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office, 4.4 million guests came to Berlin from January to September, 58 percent less than last year. The number of overnight stays fell about as strongly, at 10.7 million. The numbers for foreign visitors decreased particularly significantly. Hamburg and Munich recorded similar declines.
According to Kieker, the congress business will change. “Congresses will no longer run in such a way that one person gives a lecture and 1000 listens. You can also do that on the Internet. The trend will be towards “festivalization” with more personal encounters. “The breaks will be more important than the lecture series.”
Kieker expects that certain events will be carried out after corona rapid tests in the next few months. “It could be logistically managed to meet with 800 to 1000 people.” They talk about this with the Senate. “We will make the possible possible until the herd immunity is achieved through the vaccine, perhaps in late summer.” (Dpa)
