Europa-Park Rust restricts the number of visitors / Whether roller coaster, petting zoo, hot waffles – behind all the offers are people who make fun and enjoyment possible.
According to media reports, Germany’s most popular amusement park, Europa-Park, is lacking employees, which is why the number of visitors is now being limited.
The lack of staff is currently having a bad effect on many companies in the tourism industry. Airports are sinking into chaos and hoteliers and restaurateurs are also complaining about a lack of staff. According to media reports and a recent article by the “Deutsche Presse-Agentur” (dpa), the shortage of staff at Europa-Park Rust has become so acute that it is now limiting the number of visitors. Europa-Park, on the other hand, tells TRAVELBOOK that the limit has nothing to do with a lack of staff. It would not pass – the popular amusement park is even well staffed.
Europa-Park: German amusement parks suffer from staff shortages
The shortage of staff in amusement parks is coming to a head. “It is a tragedy that runs through all companies in the leisure and tourism industry,” said Jürgen Gevers, Managing Director of the Association of German Leisure Parks and Leisure Companies. Corona hit the companies hard. “They had to be the first to close and were the last to open again.” According to Gevers, there is hardly a company that does not suffer from staff shortages – and that shortly before the high season in the holiday season.
In some parks, the opening hours have been shortened, says association man Gevers. There is a lack of staff everywhere – from cashiers to cleaning staff to people who operate the rides. In some cases, sales were also lost because not all culinary offerings were available, says Gevers.
Potential employees are wooed and attracted with all sorts of advantages. “People almost court them – parks offer free parking, a contract with a gym or massages,” says Marcel Bender from Schwabenpark in Kaisersbach. There, for example, there is free lunch for the employees. In addition, four more affordable staff apartments are being built – there are already six.
Europa-Park caps visitor numbers
Germany’s most popular amusement park, the Europa-Park in Rust, temporarily caps the daily number of visitors. According to the current statement, however, not because of a lack of staff, as numerous media reports with reference to the dpa: “With the variable cap, which is not due to a lack of staff, we channel visitor flows in order to guarantee guests an optimal experience,” said a spokeswoman TRAVELBOOK with.
According to dpa, more than 50,000 people visit the park on peak days. The “Badische Zeitung” states: “Dieter Borer, Swiss representative of Europa-Park, has confirmed to the local media that no more than 30,000 visitors are currently admitted daily.” However, a company spokeswoman told TRAVELBOOK that the restriction to 30,000 visitors cannot be confirmed – the number is not correct. Rather, it is a “variable cap” that Europa-Park does not support with facts or figures when asked.
When asked by TRAVELBOOK why such a cap did not exist in the pre-Corona times, the spokeswoman explains: “One influencing factor [for the current cap] is, for example, that guests no longer feel like this in crowds after the pandemic feel carefree and free like before. That’s why Europa-Park wants to continue to be very responsible with visitor capacities.”
Cap not due to lack of staff?
“There are not enough staff and the guests notice that when restaurants or food stands are not open,” said a company spokeswoman for the “Badische Zeitung”. However, a spokeswoman told TRAVELBOOK: “Everything is open. We work with a district management system that makes it possible to quickly and variably increase the number of staff in busy restaurants and thus to react flexibly to the flow of visitors.”
A lack of staff would not be a problem at Europa-Park at the moment: “For the summer holidays, we’ll get to the pre-Corona level with holiday jobbers. The vacancies are also at the pre-corona level,” says the spokeswoman for TRAVELBOOK. It goes on to say: “In addition to the seasonal returnees, we hired 500 employees.”
Finally, the spokeswoman explains: “There are only a few places left for the start of the summer holidays that need to be filled. However, we are fundamentally optimistic that we will be able to do this.”
Europa-Park recruits staff from abroad
Without employees from abroad, the situation would probably be a lot more difficult. “For several years now, Europa-Park has been recruiting its workers from far beyond national borders. In addition to application days just outside of Paris, Europa-Park is also looking for skilled workers in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland and in Central Asia and South Africa,” the spokeswoman told TRAVELBOOK.
Europa-Park has already hired 25 Ukrainian refugees. “It works very well and we expect further successful recruitment,” said a spokeswoman, according to dpa. However, language barriers still need to be broken down.
