Tourism year with highs and lows

A rollercoaster of emotions lies behind tourism in the Sauerland when looking at last year's overnight stay statistics. While 2021 got off to an unfavorable start with the massive restrictions imposed by the lockdown until May, the figures for late summer and autumn in particular give hope for a successful 2022.

"Sauerland Tourism would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all employees in the catering, hotel and leisure industries," emphasizes Thomas Weber, Managing Director of Sauerland Tourism. "Everyone has experienced difficult times and worried about their jobs. And unfortunately this is still going on. But we want you to know that we are aware that you are the foundation of our hospitable Sauerland. We therefore hope with you that we will be able to welcome many guests again in the coming months and that the situation in the industry will normalize."

In bare figures, this means 1,405,131 guest arrivals (7.0% less than in 2020) and 5,040,521 overnight stays (2.7% less than in 2020) for the "Land of a Thousand Mountains". At an average of 3.6 days, the length of stay was slightly higher than in previous years. However, comparisons with previous years are difficult to make due to the massive impact on travel caused by the various coronavirus measures and the long ban on tourist travel. "Nevertheless, the figures clearly show that the Sauerland remains a popular travel region and was able to build on the successful period before the pandemic, especially in the months of July to October, recording well over 700,000 overnight stays per month," explains Rouven Soyka, press spokesman for Sauerland Tourism. This is particularly remarkable as the late summer and fall were quite changeable in terms of weather.

This year, Sauerland Tourism has a lot planned, particularly in terms of marketing, in order to promote the region vigorously. "We are currently busy with intensive preparations for measures and campaigns that will strengthen our industry and make people want to visit the Sauerland. The aim here is to further focus on the special features of the region," explains Dr. Jürgen Fischbach, Head of Marketing at Sauerland Tourism. "As a popular outdoor region, we score points above all with our wide range of quality hiking and cycling trails as well as numerous other opportunities for activities in the green countryside. This is a factor that has become even more important when choosing a vacation destination in the past two years."

"A new special feature is certainly that many residents and guests have to pay a lot due to increased energy and fuel prices. But the best, the wide, well-kept landscape, is very close by and is virtually free: that's why we are full of hope that the region will be well visited again. Gastronomy, hotels, retail, leisure destinations and, above all, the strong volunteer work that is indispensable are ready and waiting. We can't thank them all often enough and wish them every success," says Thomas Weber.

Contact for the press:
Rouven Soyka, Sauerland-Tourismus e. V.
Johannes-Hummel-Weg 1, 57392 Schmallenberg
Tel.: 02974-969830, e-mail: presse@sauerland.com