Status: 09/27/2022 3:37 p.m
Actually, hotels and restaurants wanted to start again after lean Corona years. Now the war and the energy crisis are weighing heavily on the industry. The worst is possibly yet to come.
“The vast majority of restaurateurs don’t even realize how the bomb is ticking,” says Gereon Haumann. As the long-time President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA) Rhineland-Palatinate, he knows the industry like few. He has never experienced a mood like that at the moment.
Almost half see their livelihood threatened
According to a nationwide DEHOGA survey, 90 percent of restaurants and hotels describe energy costs as the greatest challenge at the moment. 40 percent already feel existentially threatened. Many companies are not even aware that their gas supply contracts will expire at the end of the year, says Haumann. But the knowledge alone would not be of much use either. “No gas supplier is willing to agree to similar terms as before.” When it comes to electricity, it’s no better.
Haumann reports on a large, privately run hotel in Mainz. Because the gas shortage was already apparent in the spring, the owner switched parts of the hot water supply to electricity. The hot water in the guest rooms no longer comes from the central heating, but from electric instantaneous water heaters. The hotelier invested more than 100,000 euros in the conversion, says Haumann.
Unlike many of his colleagues, the hotelier also had in mind that his electricity supply contract would end on December 31, 2022. Already in July he asked about the future conditions. Even then, they were catastrophic, says DEHOGA President Haumann. The price of electricity alone – i.e. without network transmission costs, meter rental, taxes and so on – has increased increased tenfold from four cents to 40 cents. “That would have meant an additional cost of 900,000 euros,” calculates Haumann. He advised the hotelier to turn down the offer – “because it can’t stay like this.” The current offer is now significantly higher, at 65 cents.
High energy consumption in kitchens and spa areas
Apart from restaurant kitchens, the wellness areas are the biggest energy guzzlers in hotels. But because many guests choose a hotel precisely because of the spa facilities, the Pistono family from Dieblich on the Moselle decided shortly before the energy crisis to significantly expand the spa area in their three-star superior hotel and more than a million Euros to invest – for a new sauna, a bio sauna, a steam bath, an infrared sauna and a relaxation room.
“We took out a large loan for this,” says junior boss Theresa Pistono. “By today’s standards, that’s actually crazy.” The 30-year-old is one of the fifth generation to run the 85-room hotel. “We want to bring it up to a contemporary standard, offer new jobs and achieve the best possible utilization throughout the year.”
“Room and dinner are not enough”
Her father Walter knows from his many years of experience: “If you want to have guests on a permanent basis, you have to offer something and be willing to invest. Rooms and dinner alone are not enough these days.” After all, the family has been running its own combined heat and power plant for ten years to supply hotel rooms, the restaurant and the swimming pool with hot water and electricity. “This has resulted in considerable savings in electricity,” says Senior Manager Walter Pistono. The gas supply contract for the combined heat and power plant runs until the end of 2023. What costs the Pistonos will then have to reckon with is completely uncertain.
The catering trade is already confronted with considerable additional costs for food. “In addition, the minimum wage will increase from October,” says Theresa Pistono. “We will have to raise prices by 10 to 15 percent.” It can already be felt that many guests are running out of money. At the moment the hotel is still well occupied, it is high season on the Moselle. But for November and December there are hardly any bookings. Nevertheless, Theresa Pistono believes: “Companies have to reposition themselves and act anti-cyclically. Of course it’s a difficult decision to take out a large loan in such times. But you shouldn’t be put off. I think it’s worth it.”
Green investments are now paying off
Thomas Langhauser from Edenkoben in the Palatinate was not deterred when he built the first climate-neutral hotel in Rhineland-Palatinate at a time when gas and electricity were still cheap. “Thank God I already dealt intensively with the topic of climate friendliness 20 years ago. At that time, nobody was seriously interested.” The 58-year-old hotelier explains his motivation as follows: “You do it for yourself out of conviction. But also to save money in the long term”. The motto of the Palatinate: “Net babbele, do.”
Langhauser also relies on a combined heat and power plant for heat and electricity, supplemented by solar energy. From October to March, the combined heat and power plant runs continuously and produces not only heat but also the electricity required. “We only have to buy additional electricity in the summer,” says Langhauser. The CO2 residues, as Langhauser says, are offset by certificates. His hotel “Ziegelhütte” has been adorned with the “CO2-neutral” award for twelve years.
Since switching to a combined heat and power plant and solar system, the hotel has consumed less than a third as much electricity as before. Because the combined heat and power plant produces more electricity in winter than the hotel needs, Langhauser receives a feed-in tariff based on market prices. He does what is now referred to as a chance win. Or as Langhauser puts it: “I get the heat almost for free.”
Many hoteliers are now rethinking
He has been sharing his knowledge and experience for years in the working group “Environment and Sustainability” of the DEHOGA association at federal level. The working group has now been supplemented by the topic of energy and upgraded to a committee. “The crisis is taking sustainability further,” says Langhauser, who was ridiculed by many colleagues for years.
Many other hotels are now also trying to become more energy efficient, but still have to come to terms with the current framework conditions. “We have to adapt to the new situation,” says Gereon Haumann from DEHOGA.” In order to prevent a wave of bankruptcies, his association is calling for an energy price cap for electricity and gas, and the use of all energy sources including nuclear power. “Energy must not only be available, but also remain affordable”, says Haumann. “Many companies would not survive an energy lockdown”.