Multiple cost drivers

Styrian hoteliers worry about the summer season

Increased wage costs are also a burden for hoteliers (symbolic image).(Bild: Pavel Vladychenko vk.com)

High energy costs, increased interest rates and expensive staff - the hotel industry is not facing an easy summer season. A survey reveals a pessimistic mood among tourism professionals, with Styria bringing up the rear across Austria. Is the burden really that great? We have asked.

A new study shows: The mood in the hotel industry is extremely mixed with regard to the summer. Nine out of ten hoteliers report negative effects from the economic situation, and in Styria the mood is particularly pessimistic - according to the results of the Hotelier Association and Deloitte.

Gerhard and Katrin Höflehner in front of their business in Haus im Ennstal.(Bild: Hotel Höflehner)

The worries are no coincidence: "The rise in prices affects us hoteliers just as much as the guests themselves," explains Gernot Deutsch, Styrian Chairman of the Hoteliers' Association. A large number of exploding cost factors are causing problems for the tourism industry. These include energy costs as well as food prices and rising interest rates. "We had a very good tailwind for ten years, but now the wind has changed direction," says Gerhard Höflehner from the hotel of the same name in Ennstal.

Employees as the biggest cost factor
Heidi Schaller, Managing Director of the Green Business Hotel in Raaba, is particularly concerned about the staff situation. "We can't afford the staff we would like to have," says Schaller. According to Deutsch, many tourism professionals are feeling the effects of the sharp, albeit justified, wage increases this year.

The Green Business Hotel in Raaba.(Bild: Green Business Hotel)

In addition, seminar hotels in particular are receiving fewer bookings at shorter notice. Schaller is therefore now focusing on event tourism and coach tours: "The Formula 1 weekend is very, very important for us, but then we already fall into a summer slump," says Schaller and speaks of fear of the coming season.

We tourism professionals are professional optimists - and the booking situation is very satisfactory. Even if the outlook for the future is somewhat cautious.

Gernot Deutsch, steirischer Landesvorsitzender der Österreichischen Hoteliervereinigung

Höflehner sees things differently, saying: "We are well booked." Challenges like these are nothing new, even if there have never been "multiple cost drivers" like this year. Deutsch also shares this observation: "We tourism professionals are professional optimists - and the booking situation is very satisfactory."

Nevertheless, the question arises as to what could improve the situation. Deutsch mentions the expansion of public transport in particular. There is a lack of connections from Graz to the regions. He also appeals to politicians to intervene when it comes to lowering interest rates.