report

Tourism crisis Later restart the River cruises

Status: 19.06.2021 3:29 p.m.

River cruise ships are back in Bavaria – because of the infection protection with fewer guests on board. The long absence of the ships has left deep marks along the routes.

By Sebastian Grosser and Martin Gruber, BR

A melody sounds on deck of the river ship “NickoSpirit” before cruise director Ferdinand Selig starts his speech. “Welcome to Regensburg, dear passengers.” In front of Selig is a piece of paper with several names, which are in turn marked with different colors. “Please remember your grouping and don’t forget your mask when you leave the ship,” he says. At this point, several passengers have already gathered at the entrance of the ship to go ashore for a tour of the city. A maximum of 14 people are allowed in a group. This is part of infection protection.

Million revenues before Corona

The “NickoSpirit” is the first river cruise ship to be moored in Regensburg this year. Usually the season starts in spring. But Corona put the once booming tourism industry on the back burner in 2021. The Regensburger Stadtwerk, which manages the pier, is expecting around 100 landings this year. Similar to 2020, in the first Corona year, the city is expected to turn over only 100,000 euros with the ships. For comparison: in 2019, more than 1000 ships moored in Regensburg, with which the city was able to bring in a turnover of 1.3 million euros.

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Hard times for tour guides

Michaela Ederer is already waiting for the guests at the Donaulände, where the “NickoSpirit” moored. The tour guide has longingly awaited the first ship and its passengers. “The last few months have been really tough,” she says. “The majority of the tour guides work as freelancers and rely on the tour guides and the sales they generate with them.”

In the peak of the pandemic, around 7500 tour guides nationwide were unemployed, says Ederer, who is also on the board of the Federal Association of Tour Guides in Germany. Many of her colleagues should have tapped their retirement reserves. “We are therefore very happy,” she says, referring to the arrival of the first passengers.

Passengers: No problem with infection protection

While the guests with audio guides in their ears follow the tour operator’s blue tablet to explore the historic old town of Regensburg, cruise director Selig talks to the passengers who have stayed on the ship. Unless they are sitting in the restaurant or on the summer deck, they all wear mouth and nose protection. Many of the mostly older passengers do not mind the infection control measures. “The guests are used to it,” says Selig. For the provider of cruise travel, however, creating a suitable hygiene concept was a bit of a challenge: In order to maintain the distance, only 143 of the otherwise 170 passengers are currently allowed on board. There is even a certified test center on the “NickoSpirit” so that everyone on the ship can be tested every 48 hours.

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End of the cruise boom

While the provider Nicko had previously relied mainly on a German-speaking audience, other shipping companies, such as the largest industry association IG Rivercruise, have a harder time BR demand notifies. In particular, sales of shipping companies that specialize exclusively in guests from overseas such as the USA or Australia fell by 100 percent last year. But also those ships that were able to sail between July and October 2020 recorded losses of between 60 and 70 percent.

“The Queen would declare the year 2020 to be an ‘annus horribilis’. The IG Rivercruise joins this,” said the Industry association. The forecast for 2021 is no better. “The season is short,” said IG Rivercruise. Individual providers have therefore filed for bankruptcy, but had already got into financial difficulties before the pandemic.

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Souvenir shops before the end

The lack of cruise business also brought Gabriele Winklmeier into existential difficulties. The 58-year-old has a souvenir shop in the old town of Passau. The ship tourists from the USA and France would actually be their main business. Due to the pandemic, hardly anything happened last year, according to Winklmeier. “This year, too, things have been bad so far: no buses, no ships, no customers. Now the first cruise ships are arriving, but they all dock outside.” She will probably give up her souvenir shop – after 17 years.

Winklmeier looks back with sadness: “Three years ago all hell was going on here. 300 guests as early as eight in the morning. You could still do business there. Today it can happen to me that I don’t have a turnover of 30 euros.” The guests of “NickoSpirit” will probably no longer buy souvenirs in Winklmeier’s shop. The cruise on the river ends in Passau. Several buses are waiting along the landing stage where the suitcases are already lined up. Cruise manager Selig, who has to say goodbye to his guests after nine days, draws a positive balance: “It was a relaxed trip, even if it seems unrelaxed. We were well prepared with the tests on board. Many guests were vaccinated or recovered. That is natural also a great relief for us. “