If the current 38 percent occupancy in November is no cause for joy among the Viennese hoteliers, things will get even worse in the coming weeks and months: a wave of cancellations is currently rolling through the receptions for December, and January is even at a record low for reservations .

Only eight percent of the rooms are currently booked for January. “Autumn started well and we were slowly able to recover, but the new corona wave is now throwing us back completely. The Viennese hotel industry cannot survive with this number of guests, ”says Dominic Schmid, chairman of the hotel industry in the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, calling for urgently needed support for his branch.

“In the last few weeks, seminars and conferences have again ensured better booking of hotel rooms in Vienna, but that is now over. Seminars are canceled, Christmas parties are not booked at all and tourist trips are canceled again, "says Schmid, pessimistic about the current situation for the industry:" Winter has gone for us, in a negative sense, we will see a recovery in six months at the earliest - if it does Then there are still hotels in Vienna. ”Because the economic situation of the hotels is just as drastic as the booking situation:“ We all have our backs to the wall. ”

Schmid therefore calls for supportive measures for tourism professionals: "The reduction in sales tax that expires at the end of the year must be extended, as well as the tried and tested auxiliary instruments such as the expiring cancellation bonus, the earlier fixed cost subsidy and the compensation for losses must be reactivated or increased."