Heringsdorf (dpa/mv) – The pandemic has also torn deep holes in personnel planning in the tourism industry in the northeast. “The number of people in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania who are subject to social security contributions and marginally employed in 2021 fell by a total of nine percent compared to the pre-Corona year 2019,” said the East German Savings Banks Association (OSV) on Tuesday in Heringsdorf at the presentation of this year’s tourism barometer .
According to the information, the districts of Northwest Mecklenburg and Ludwigslust-Parchim as well as the independent cities of Schwerin and Rostock were affected above average with a decline of more than ten percent. In addition, according to the OSV, more than a quarter (28 percent) of the 1,674 registered training positions remained vacant last year.
According to current overnight stay figures, the industry was able to recover somewhat in the first half of 2022, but this development varies from region to region: After a nationwide slump to just 4.5 million tourist overnight stays in the first half of 2021, according to the tourism barometer, these were in the first six months of this year year again at 12.2 million and thus only 9.5 percent below the year 2019. But the inland is recovering more slowly than the coastal region: While the booking figures on the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast are reported to be only 5.5 percent below the previous pandemic value, the value on the lake district is 13.2 percent lower.
According to the analysis by the Savings Banks Association, companies are also confronted with increased customer demands: Eight out of ten companies stated in an online survey that quality requirements have increased more over the last ten years than the possibilities for price adjustments. The experts recommend that tourism professionals use the potential of process optimization and digitization to ensure quality with fewer workers.
