In view of the massive increase in costs due to the energy crisis and inflation, the spas and health resorts are demanding quick help from the Economic Stabilization Fund. The operation of thermal baths and thermal baths has become so enormously expensive that the first facilities in Hesse have already had to close temporarily or even completely. This is likely to happen for more, according to the German Spa Association. Spas and health resorts are of enormous importance for tourism, business and medical care in rural areas.
In Bad Salzhausen in the Wetterau district, for example, the Justus von Liebig thermal baths recently had to close. After high deficits in the past, one had to “pull the ripcord” in view of the rapid increase in gas and electricity prices, it said from the spa. A vitality and health center is to be built on the site in the future. The festival city of Bad Hersfeld also temporarily closed its Kurbad Therme on November 1st – to save gas. A wellness operation on the back burner is not an option for the East Hessian city.
In addition to closures, some municipalities and operators also reacted to the situation with shorter opening hours, restrictions on sauna operations or price increases. But the latter can also scare away guests, said Brigitte Goertz-Meissner, President of the German Spa Association, the German Press Agency. She fears a downward spiral with dire consequences for the locations: If pools have to limit their offers or even close them completely, this will also affect the rehabilitation clinics as well as the hotel, catering and retail sectors in the affected locations.
