Schwerin/Rostock (dpa/mv) – The tourist high season in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was weaker this year than in 2021. In July, the State Statistical Office counted 7.5 percent fewer overnight stays and in August 11.3 percent fewer than in the previous year.
The managing director of the state tourism association, Tobias Woitendorf, spoke on Tuesday of a thoroughly average holiday summer in the north-east. Last year there were special effects as a result of the corona pandemic, he pointed out. More people than usual would have decided to vacation in Germany in 2021 given the situation, Woitendorf told the German Press Agency on Tuesday. That doesn’t repeat itself every year.
In the first eight months of this year, the statisticians recorded almost 40 percent more overnight stays in MV than in the same period last year – at that time corona lockdowns had paralyzed business for months. Compared to the pre-Corona year 2019, the country is slightly lower. 2019 was the most successful tourism year for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with 34.1 million overnight stays. Up to and including August, 25 million overnight stays were counted back then, now there are 23.2 million.
In the Corona years 2020 and 2021, the numbers dropped to 27.8 and 26.5 million overnight stays respectively. According to Woitendorf’s estimate, more than 30 million will be there again this year, if the situation is predictable for consumers. He reported on the current “incredibly short-term” bookings by guests due to the uncertainty surrounding energy prices and welcomed the plans from Berlin that became known on Tuesday to grant the gas price brake retrospectively from the beginning of 2023.