Saxon health resorts and resorts demand compensation for additional costs

In order to preserve Saxony's health resorts and spas, the tourism association and the spa association are calling for additional compensation. Without compensation for the additional costs of maintaining, expanding and creating the infrastructure required for the state predicates, the future of these resorts would be in danger, they said in a joint statement on Tuesday. The associated expenditure on the municipal side would be disproportionate to the income of the municipalities and would therefore place an enormous burden on the budget of the municipalities.

The spa and recreation resorts are an important economic factor due to the high added value of tourism, especially in the structurally weaker regions. According to the associations, more than 20 percent of overnight stays recorded last year were booked in spa and recreation resorts. If only rural areas are considered - excluding Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz - the figure is even around 40 percent. According to the association, there are 14 health resorts and 27 recreational resorts in Saxony.

In other federal states, this type of additional compensation is already established, emphasized the president of the state tourism association, Jörg Markert. "For example, the health resorts in Thuringia have long received corresponding support amounting to more than ten million euros per year."