Thomas Lengfelder, chairman of the Berlin Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga), expects record sales for his industry in September. The feedback from the hotels is consistently euphoric. All forecasts assumed almost full capacity utilization. “It’s going to be a fantastic month,” says Lengfelder.
September is always one of the strongest months for the hospitality industry because many events take place in Berlin. Lengfelder cites, for example, the International Radio Exhibition (Ifa) and the Innotrans transport fair as crowd pullers. But according to Lengfelder, the Germans’ desire to travel after the corona pandemic and the end of the summer also play a role.
For October, on the other hand, the hotels are reporting mixed forecasts. The sales forecasts are far below those for September – but there is still some uncertainty. “You used to be able to make good statements three months in advance,” says Lengfelder. “Today, guests book at shorter notice.”
But he is not worried about new corona measures. Apart from a mask requirement, he does not expect restrictions in the hospitality industry.
As far as the short-term nature of the bookings is concerned, an employee of the Circus Group, which runs a hostel, an apartment building and a hotel in Berlin, agrees with Langenfelder. Now, she says, many travelers only book a few days in advance.
It is therefore not surprising that the Circus Group is not yet fully booked. In September 2019, the occupancy rate was almost 95 percent, and approximately the same occupancy rate is expected for September of this year.
Internet searches could also confirm Lengenfelder’s assumption: If you are looking for a hotel room for the whole of September on Booking.com, you can only choose from 60 rooms. According to the online travel agency, 95 percent of the accommodations are no longer available.
It is unclear whether this number is really correct – or whether customers are only being tempted to strike quickly. The situation is similar for vacation rentals. According to the website Fewo-direkt.de, only three percent of the accommodations are still available.
