How hotelier boss Walter Veit wants to put the government’s savings ideas into practice and what he himself demands – a “Krone” interview.
Mr. Veit, the hoteliers’ association with you at the top supports Minister Gewessler’s energy-saving measures. Where do you and the hotels really want to start saving energy? There is the example of Switzerland, where only 80 percent of the snow-making slopes are covered with snow in winter. In the hotel industry you can do without infrared heaters and heating sponges, for example by lowering the swimming pool temperature a few degrees. When it comes to lighting, I’m afraid there’s hardly any potential left because many companies have already very consistently switched to LEDs. Different when heating rooms. In the hotel industry there has always been a tendency to overheat for fear that the guest won’t be warm enough. Keyword guest: Can you tell him exactly what he’s getting in winter? No, and that’s everything else as well. We support the intentions to save energy: After all, it is hardly affordable in Europe. Reduce eleven, twelve percent? That should be doable. But it is very important for our industry to know immediately what we can and cannot do. We urgently need guidelines. These decisions cannot come at some point. The guest books now. Is the swimming pool 32 or 29 degrees? If guests book a hotel with a swimming pool, but cannot use it in winter or only to a limited extent due to energy savings, this inevitably leads to problems. What is your assessment of the winter? We hope to finally be able to start the winter normally. Anyway, the atmosphere is good. The summer business went very well. It was and is nice to see that the Austrians rediscovered summer at home during Corona. Since new guests could be won.
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