The tourism industry is still reeling from the effects of the Corona crisis. As a new infographic by Kryptoszene.de now shows, while recent figures give reason for hope, the burden of the pandemic still weighs heavily.
Losses of up to 2.4 Trillion USD in 2021
A look at the industry as a whole initially reveals emerging reasons for hope within the travel business. Even in 2020, the pandemic started driving Germans into buying their own motorhomes and recreational vehicles. More than 78,000 motorhomes were registered that year, an increase of almost 45%. Recreational vehicles surpassed the 100,000 mark for the first time, with 102,203 new registrations, an increase of 32.6%. The industry remains optimistic for this year, hoping for further increases of around 10%.
So has tourism survived the worst? Not really. The severe financial damage caused by the lack of travel persists. As can be seen in the infographic, total losses to the tourism industry are expected to be between 1.7 and 2.4 trillion US dollars in 2021. It is especially long-distance travel that has had to be cancelled. Countries such as Italy, France or Croatia saw a significant decline in bookings from Germany in 2020. Spain had to cope with a 53% decline in the number of camping guests from Germany. Shares in tourism remain correspondingly depressed.
100% Growth in Overnight Stays Compared to the Same Period Last Year
In Germany, it is a radically different story. Domestic visitors accounted for an increase of 154% in stays at German campsites. Neighbouring Denmark and Austria were also able to increase numbers of campers by more than half. Yet, we must only shift the focus from camping holidays to overnight stays in established accommodation to see the impact of the Corona pandemic. This first quarter of 2021 in particular saw consistently low levels. While there were 30 million overnight stays in February 2020, a year later this figure had dropped to just 7 million.
Despite this, hopes remain high for Germany’s travel industry. For instance, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate saw growth of 7% in the first half of 2021. Recent months have also seen significant increases in overnight stays compared to the previous year. According to the infographic, there was even a 100% increase in overnight stays in April 2021 compared to the shock month of April 2020, with around eight million nights booked.
Investors could take advantage of low prices to get into the sector by means of tourism ETFs.
