The hospitality industry significantly increased its sales in the first half of the year. However, the pre-corona level was not reached. The high prices are still depressing revenues.
In the first half of the current year, turnover in the hospitality industry is significantly higher than in the same period of the previous year. Between January and June, the turnover in the hospitality industry rose by 5.8 percent in real terms, according to the Federal Statistical Office in a preliminary business statistic. Not adjusted for price (nominal), sales increased by 15.8 percent compared to the first half of 2022.
Economists understand price adjustment as the elimination of price influences such as inflation. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the difference between nominal and real sales reflects the price level, which has risen significantly over the long term. The high prices for food, staff and energy, among other things, contributed to the increased price level in the hospitality industry.
pre-crisis level not reached yet
However, the hospitality industry has not reached the pre-crisis level before the corona pandemic. Price-adjusted sales in the first half of 2023 were 10.4 percent below the level of the same period from January to June 2019.
The hotels and other accommodation companies in particular generated more sales and were well above the level of the same period of the previous year. However, the pre-corona level of real sales was not reached either. Sales in gastronomy were also up, but only recorded a slight increase.