On Thursday afternoon, Basel Tourism gave an enthusiastic interim assessment of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). "Everything is going according to plan and the various organizations have worked well together," said director Letizia Elia on Thursday to the Keystone-SDA news agency. However, two catering wholesalers based in the greater Basel area confirm that the international event is hardly noticeable in the fruit and vegetable trade.
'Hotel occupancy rates fall short of expectations'
"We are noticing that our customers' purchasing volumes in the catering and hotel sectors are slightly higher in calendar week 20. However, the additional sales are not dramatic, reports the sales department of AG für Fruchthandel. The company prepared accordingly for the major event and the increased demand. "It is mainly staff, such as security personnel, etc., who need to be catered for. According to the latest information, higher hotel occupancy rates had been expected. Due to the proximity to Basel Airport, many visitors are saving on hotel costs and flying back and forth on the same day."
'Possible additional sales over the weekend'
The colleagues at Gebrüder Marksteiner frigemo AG see the situation in much the same way, as a comment from the sales department shows. "Of course, we have the usual seasonal items, such as asparagus, which are currently in high demand in the catering industry. However, this is not necessarily related to the ESC. It should also be noted that prices in the hotel and catering industry in Switzerland are considerably higher than the standard in other European countries. So I wouldn't rule out the possibility that many ESC visitors are staying in hotels across the border, either in France or Germany. However, the big ESC final and the after-parties won't take place until Saturday, so things may pick up a bit more towards the weekend."
Fore more information:
www.marksteiner.ch/
www.safruits.com/de/start.htm