Covid-19: News and information in English about the situation in Munich and Germany

by Know Before You Go

The Corona pandemic changed the world and travel in particular. It’s not as easy as it was before 2020 to just hop on a plane and sunbathe on sun-kissed beaches or visit the sights of cities. New terminologies and daily routines have entered our lives due to Covid-19. We are dealing with lockdowns, entry restrictions, mandatory tests, quarantine regulations, and the discussion of compulsory vaccinations for travel.
To complicate things further, each country and in Germany sometimes even each municipality has different rules regarding restrictions.

For travelers ( regardless of whether they are traveling for tourism or business) who do not speak German, this creates significant barriers in a jungle of regulations, information, and often daily news updates.

To bring a bit of light into the darkness, I show you where to find the best (and most trustworthy) information and news about Covid-19 related activities in Munich, Bavaria, and Germany.

Munich before Covid-19

Understanding the Situation in Germany

Perhaps you have already noticed it on the sidelines. In Germany, there are no uniform regulations on lockdowns, school closures, and other restrictions on the Corona pandemic.

But why is that?
Simply put, a lot has to do with the federal structure of the Federal Republic. Many competencies have been transferred to the individual states since the founding of the Federal Republic. The federal government is often only able to make recommendations, not regulations. This regularly leads to the fact that there are sometimes significant differences in the fight against the covid virus between the individual federal states. While schools are closed in one federal state, they remain open in another. One state imposes a lockdown, while another relaxes its regulations and reopens stores. Especially during the relaxation phase of the summer of 2020, it was noticed quite quickly that Germany is a patchwork of regulations.

As a traveler who has not usually studied and internalized the structure and historical genesis of this patchwork, this can lead to a great deal of confusion.

Where you can still get good information, even if you do not speak German I show you now.

Information on Covid-19 in Germany

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is the most important German institution concerning the covid pandemic. The institute is the German counterpart to John Hopkins University in the USA.

All information from the RKI is highly official and reliable. Therefore, as a traveler, but also as a person living in Germany who does not speak German (e.g. expatriates), you should check the RKI website frequently, as it also provides the latest information in English.

What can you find on the RKI website?
– Daily reports about the current infection situation
– An interactive dashboard with figures and data history
– Information about the German Covid warning app for mobile phones
– Information about the vaccination strategy
– Studies

Visit the RKI website

The Integration Commissioner’s website provides a variety of information on the Corona pandemic in up to 20 different languages. Of course, also in English.

What can you find on the website?
– Information about the Corona warning app
– Information about vaccination
– FAQ about Covid in Germany
– Information about work and study during Corona
– Basic information for travelers

Visit the website

The website of the Federal Foreign Office provides information in English on entry requirements and travel restrictions.

What can be found on the website?
– Information about entry restrictions
– quarantine regulations
– Travel information regarding entry and transit

Visit the website

Information on Covid-19 in Munich and Bavaria

Travel-related news on Covid-19 for Munich and Bavaria

German news ressources on Covid-19 in English

5 travel predictions for Munich and Bavaria 2021

by Flight dealsFlight relatedhotel dealsKnow Before You Go

What will happen to tourism in the year 2021 in Munich and Bavaria?

The year 2020 was dominated by the Covid 19 pandemic. The global tourism industry came to an almost complete halt. Starting in the second half of the year, the situation in Europe recovered again, but tourism remained at a much lower level than before Covid. But how will things continue in 2021? How will Munich, Bavaria and Germany continue in terms of tourism? I dare to take a look into the magic crystal sphere and give a few predictions for tourism in 2021 and 2022:

1. Focus on local guests and guests from neighbouring countries

Although travel restrictions will be lifted as the corona pandemic fades away and international travel will increase again, the next years tourists from far away countries like the USA, Australia, India, China or Russia will only play a secondary role. Especially Germans and Europeans (especially from nearby countries such as Austria, France, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Scandinavia and England) will be the main target group of tourists. The hotel and restaurant industry will probably respond to this. In particular hotels, which have a special target group, e.g. Chinese or Russian guests will have to change their approach if required.

2. More expensive air travel

After international air traffic, and especially air travel, came to a complete standstill, the airlines reacted with drastic measures.

The majority of aircraft fleets were mothballed, sold or even scrapped. If the number of passengers now increases, this initially means a shortage of the available seats. Especially on popular travel routes, such as New York – Munich, Los Angeles – Munich or Bangkok – Munich, this will lead to a much higher demand for seats than available. After all, long-haul flights in particular are likely to be more expensive than short and medium-haul flights. This will have an impact on the number of long-haul travellers (see point 1).

3. expanding loyalty programs

The trend towards the creation of loyalty programs will continue. Something that was previously only operated by very large hotel chains now appears to have also arrived at the medium-sized hotel chains. Everywhere you can see the creation of new loyalty programs and the competition for frequent travelers.

But this development will probably also separate the wheat from the chaff. Because not every loyalty program is worth to be used. The Hotel chains will have to focus on providing members with a real advantage compared to “ regular travelers“, but at the same time not losing any money through free upgrades, and cash benefits.

At the same time, there may be so-called „fare wars“, which means that the hotels outbid each other with (free) additional services or more attractive rates. Travelers will also take a closer look at loyalty programs. Only those programs that really offer a benefit, much lower rates or where the collection of points, miles or nights does not degenerate into a mammoth task, are accepted. Programs that will not offer any value will probably be punished by the customers. Especially the trigger word „according to availability“ will surely play a big role here, because it makes a big difference for travelers whether a late checkout is guaranteed or just possible and in reality hardly ever available.

4. Increase in "couponing"

Flash-sales, discount coupons, black-something-sales will gain in significance. In order to avoid or at least to soften the possible oversupply of hotel accommodation (especially outside of usual vacation and travel periods), there will be special sales with coupons and similar things. Possibly this will also be combined with loyalty programs (see point 3).This will often result in very good prices for travelers. But here, too, the customers will have a close eye and hotels with „fake deals“ will have a hard time.

5. Flexible cancellation regulations

Especially in Germany, the topic of „travel cancellation“ was a huge issue. In 2019, Germans were in third place among the countries whose citizens travelled the most (1st place: USA, 2nd place: China, 4th place: UK). In 2020, the value of the trips booked probably totaled several hundred billion US dollars.

And then came Covid-19. Hotels closed, borders closed, flights were cancelled, and all travelers asked themselves „How do I get my money back?

When the travel market reopened slightly, hotels in particular responded with flexible cancellation options, sometimes until a few hours before arrival. Travellers are getting used to this and I believe the flexible cancellation policy will play a big role in the post-covid travel era.