What will change on a North Sea vacation in 2024

Tourism - What will change on a North Sea vacation in 2024

Despite a recent slowdown in inflation, vacations on the German North Sea coast will be more expensive in some places in the new year 2024. "There will be isolated price increases for ferries, beach chairs and guest contributions," the Tourism Agency North Sea (Tano) in Wilhelmshaven, which is responsible for the Lower Saxony coast, told the German Press Agency. "However, the effects will be most noticeable in the hospitality industry when there is no longer a reduced VAT rate next year," it said.

At the same time, a number of new attractions are also set to open on the coast of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein in 2024. An overview of what is likely to change for North Sea vacations in 2024:

Gastronomy: Increased energy and food prices as well as a persistent staff shortage have recently affected many businesses in the tourism industry. In a recent survey by the Lower Saxony Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHKN), almost two thirds of around 400 businesses in the hospitality industry surveyed stated that they wanted to raise their prices in the coming season in response to the increased costs. Visits to restaurants and cafés in particular are likely to become more expensive in 2024. This is because VAT on food in restaurants, which had been reduced to 7% to ease the burden on the catering industry during the pandemic, will rise again to 19% on January 1.

In addition, some businesses have had to adjust their offerings and opening hours due to a lack of workers, Hannah Wilbert, tourism industry officer at the Flensburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce, told dpa. "Our current economic survey shows that the hospitality industry is having even greater problems filling vacancies than the economy as a whole." The trend is therefore towards a reduction in supply and shorter opening hours.

In addition to a shortage of skilled workers and increased costs, the hospitality industry in particular is also struggling with countless bureaucratic burdens. Bureaucratic costs due to complicated regulations and obligations account for 2.5 percent of the turnover of a typical, family-run company in the hospitality industry every year.

Ferry and train tickets: The Wyker Dampfschiffs Reederei (W.D.R.), which operates connections from the mainland to the North Frisian islands of Föhr and Amrum as well as the Halligen, is increasing its prices "moderately by two to three percent" across all tariffs in the new year, said authorized signatory Nick Obert. For a car with a length of four and a half meters, the ferry trip from Dagebüll to Wyk will therefore cost one euro more from January. The main factors for the price increase are the increased costs for fuel for the ships, personnel and spare parts.

Attractions: According to the Schleswig-Holstein Tourism Agency, guests in Schleswig-Holstein can look forward to a number of new hotels and apartment complexes, for example in Lübeck, Wedel, on Föhr and in Büsum. New gastronomic offerings are also being created, for example in St. Peter-Ording. On Fehmarn, lovers of the up-and-coming water sports of wingfoiling and pump foiling will get their money's worth at the first Foil Festival (May 17 to 20). In the Schlei region, the model project "Smile24" is testing how people in rural areas can do without their cars and travel reliably by public transport. On Amrum, one of the most popular walking paths, the "Vogelkoje-Quermarkenfeuer" boardwalk, is being rebuilt, while in Wyk on Föhr, the construction of the new central bridge is progressing.

In Lower Saxony, a whole series of new facilities are also set to open in 2024. In the popular East Frisian vacation resort of Greetsiel, for example, "Das Koppke", a new swimming pool with sauna facilities, is set to open in February, according to the North Sea Tourism Agency. In Norden-Norddeich, a museum about East Frisian detective stories is to be built and on the island of Spiekeroog an exhibition on the history of sea rescue. A new vacation resort is to be built in Butjadingen and an adventure golf course in Dangast in Friesland.

Guest fees: Some North Sea holidaymakers will also have to adjust to higher guest fees, also known as visitor's tax. On the East Frisian island of Borkum, the distinction between low and high season will be abolished in 2024. From January, the guest contribution will be a uniform 4.80 euros per overnight stay for adults throughout the year. Previously, overnight stays in the low season were slightly cheaper.

It will also be more expensive in some places on the mainland: on the Butjadingen peninsula in Lower Saxony, for example, adults and children aged 13 and over will pay 3.20 euros per night in the high season from April to October from 2024 instead of the previous 2.90 euros. In the Frisian municipality of Wangerland north of Wilhelmshaven, the guest contribution in Horumersiel, Schillig and Hooksiel will also increase. And in Büsum in Schleswig-Holstein, for example, the prices for beach chair rental and the guest card will also be increased.

Information from Wangerland-Touristik on winter camping Butjadingen on the guest contribution Wangerland on the guest contribution Borkum on the guest contribution Information on the new swimming pool "Das Koppke"