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German holiday resorts miss Russian tourists

Paul Winterer, Susanne Kupke (dpa)December 19, 2014

Rich Russians have spent winters at European resorts for years, but following the Ukraine crisis and Western sanctions, their numbers have declined. That's led to a drop in business in cities like Germany's Baden-Baden.

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Sun setting over the Bavarian Alps in winter
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Jansen

They no longer live up to the cliché of the Vodka quaffing ruffians who throw their shot glasses over their shoulder. Instead they are the dignified guests at gourmet restaurants and prefer to stay in luxury hotels. Their schedules can include a visit to the casino in the evening and having Russian-speaking ski instructors lead them safely down the slopes.

Holiday makers from Russia have been a well-established part of the visitor contingent in Bavarian ski resorts for many years. But the crisis in Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions convinced many to stay home. Now the dramatic fall in value of the ruble means even many wealthy Russians can't afford a trip back to their European haunts.

The ruble no longer rolls

From January until September the number of Russian visitors in upper Bavaria was down by 4.4 percent compared to the same period the previous year, and overnight stays have dropped by 5.8 percent. They accounted for 500,000 overnight stays but only because at the beginning of the year the Ukraine conflict wasn't a factor. The drop in September is dramatic, according to the State Statistics Office overnights in September 2014 were 21 percent lower.

One of the most popular holiday destinations of well-to-do Russians is Garmisch-Partenkirchen. For a long time the ski pistes and the state-run casino attracted guests from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Russian millionaires bought or built second homes at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain.

Arial view of Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the foot of the ZugspitzeImage: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Jansen

Now however local tourism director Peter Ries has recorded a marked decline in visitors from Russia. He said they were down 5.1 percent since the start of the year as far as guests are concerned and 8.4 percent in overnight stays compared to last year. Ries has surveyed several hotels and received the same answer from all of them, that this winter there are considerably fewer bookings from Russian guests. "We will continue to focus on the Russian market to let potential visitors know that they are very much welcome here", Ries said.

Shorter holiday leave in the New Year

These efforts will not greatly affect the end of the year season.

"We have had some booking requests from Russia," said Andreas Griess from the Hotel Rheinische Hof in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, "but a lot less." Should bookings not increase dramatically during December the owner of the family run 75-bed hotel will be marking a 40 percent decline of Russian winter holiday makers.

Verena Lothes of Bavarian Zugspitz Cable Car company said Russia has reduced the traditional New Year's holiday entitlement. Instead of two weeks off, they only get a weeks' leave as of 2015 and therefore have to be back at work on January 6. Lothes said that would likely lead to considerably fewer Russian skiers on the slopes of the Zugspitze and Garmisch Klassik ski resorts.

Ski schools are also suffering. Thomas Sprenzel, who owns a ski and snowboard school in Garmisch-Patenkirchen, said many travel agents in Moscow who specialized in German holidays have gone bust. He was still counting on Russian participants at his ski school, especially in the first half of January, "but a lot less." Sprenzel employs Russian ski instructors especially to cater for them.

Germany, Bavaria alpine ski resort of Fellhorn-Kanzelwand
Bavarian holiday resorts depend on more than just good weatherImage: picture-alliance/dpa/K.-J. Hildenbrand

Regular guests in Baden-Baden

The resort city of Baden-Baden is also worried - even back in the day of the tsar the spa town was a popular travel destination for Russians. But now it is painfully feeling the changing trend. Over the decades there have been significant fluctuations in the number of foreign guests. "But with the Russian visitors it is the first decline in numbers in 20 years," said Brigitte Goertz-Meissner, head of the municipal tourism office.

From January to September there were 10,000 fewer overnight stays by Russians, she added that this statistic also included Ukrainians. That is a 16.2 percent decline on the previous year. As a matter of course this group usually accounts for 80,000 overnight stays in the most "Russian town in Germany."

Baden-Baden and Russia have had a connection since the 19th century, a long history from authors like Fyodor Dostoyevsky or Ivan Turgenev all the way up to members of the aristocracy. In recent years, the spa town has benefited from a growing number of often rich Russians coming here for medical treatments and to recuperate.

Kurhaus and Kurpark in Baden-Baden
Russian visitors to Baden-Baden have a long traditionImage: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gierth

"For Baden-Baden it would be a shame if these guests now no longer came", Goertz-Meissner said. "They are regular guests in our town."

She added that the town will continue "business as usual" in its cooperation with Russian travel agents.

But there is a ray of hope: the decline in the much loved Russian visitors and been compensated by an increase of tourists from other nations. In other cities, including Dresden in Saxony, the number of Russian visitors has remained unchanged. But the businesses catering to them have noticed that the guests seem to have less money to spend these days.

"Russian tourists are spending on average 30 percent less in Dresden than last year," said Michael Mauerhoff of the Global Blue Deutschland financial service. Global Blue is one of the places non-EU visitors can go to claim back value-added tax from their shopping Germany.