These weeks are already part of the hot German run-up to the new elections in Germany on 23 February 2025. The tourism industry updated its list of demands for the federal elections again before Christmas - but dreams are over. 

The 25th Tourism Summit in Berlin once again breezed along. The associations preferred to soften things up and therefore reacted shallowly to the hidden political announcements that are not beneficial to the industry. The following day, the German Chancellor threatened with a 15-euro minimum wage. 

It looks like a poison list for the German hotel industry: this is how you could describe the considerations from the German Federal Ministry of Finance of Christian Lindner after the business newspaper Handelsblatt published the latest ideas on subsidy cuts. And these would really hurt the German hotel industry. 

Are German and European companies facing a new bureaucracy monster or are important steps towards sustainable transparency being introduced? The majority wants progress, the German FDP is playing its own game. 

Farmers' strike, anti-right-wing demonstrations and railway strike: Germany is out on the streets - on foot or with tractors. Society is polarising. A turbulent year has begun. 

Wednesday morning, business breakfast for three in a place to be in Berlin Mitte. A light, manageable buffet, nothing really special, good quality no doubt, two pots of tea, a cappuccino. The bill at the end was 135 euros. Inflation!

On Wednesday, the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVG) stopped the German government from spending money it doesn't have. The court declared the reallocation of 60-billion-euro loans in the 2021 budget null and void. This means there is now a huge gap. All expenditure and funding, even for climate change, has now been stopped. Who cares about the hope of an extended low VAT rate in the catering industry?  

The pressure on German politicians to permanently reduce VAT is increasing. The debate about 7% or no is in its hottest phase. The catering industry fears closures. At the same time, state coffers are empty.