Open letter from leisure businesses in North Rhine-Westphalia to the state government

Dear Minister-President Laschet,
Dear Ministers Lienenkämper, Pinkwart and Laumann,
Dear Members of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament,
Dear representatives of the state's towns, cities and districts,

The coronavirus crisis has affected us all. The health of millions is at stake, along with our future and our economy.

We are grateful that government short-time working support can help many of our employees so quickly. Federal and state politicians are responding at extraordinary speed, introducing new aid packages and legislation. We appreciate this, especially as this situation is new to all of you too.

Leisure activities are understandably not a priority at present, and leisure businesses are rarely mentioned. Yet ours is one of the hardest-hit sectors. All activities stopped overnight, and our businesses were required to close in the public interest. Revenue has disappeared. Almost all of us are medium-sized businesses with eleven to 250 employees, but very little practical assistance is currently reaching businesses of this size. We all agree that health comes first and leisure is not the immediate priority.

But we are an industry too, and a substantial one in North Rhine-Westphalia. We are deeply concerned about how long we can survive.

The leisure businesses signing this letter alone represent at least 2,500 jobs in North Rhine-Westphalia. The wider regional sector employs many thousands more. These are people who love their work and the enjoyment it brings others, and who depend on it for their livelihood.

Together, our venues welcomed more than nine million visitors in 2019. We want to be able to bring people enjoyment and confidence again once the worst has passed. They will want to get out, move and spend time together: climbing, going to the cinema, trampolining, swimming, exercising, bowling, playing games and having adventures. They will want to live again.

But where will they go? Many of us will no longer be here unless federal and state government provide swift, straightforward help and clarity now. We would like to support you with practical proposals. You cannot be expected to have an answer to every question.

Our businesses and individual challenges vary. Below, we have set out the concerns and requests we share most often. Please give these central issues facing local leisure businesses your attention.

1. Compensation

At present, businesses are expected to bear the cost of protecting the public, namely the cost of enforced closures, through their own reserves and loans that will leave them in debt for years. Yet the Infection Protection Act expressly provides for compensation for businesses forcibly closed by the authorities under that legislation. The situation is unprecedented, but individual sectors should not have to bear the cost of a crisis affecting society as a whole. That cost must be shared through government support.

Please provide clarity quickly and examine the possibility of publicly funded compensation.

2. Rent

Leisure businesses need premises covering hundreds or thousands of square metres, usually rented. Large spaces mean substantial rent, which remains due during closure because landlords depend on it too. A government solution is needed to share the burden fairly, rather than leaving it solely with tenants whose income has been cut off by official restrictions.

We therefore propose a form of temporary rent support, with the state covering a share of private businesses' rent. If it paid, for example, sixty per cent during closure, landlords and tenants could negotiate the remainder.

3. Minijob employees, apprentices and student workers

Our sector employs many people on Germany's minijob contracts and many student workers. This is not about taking the easy option: it reflects a business that operates mainly in the evenings and at weekends, with numerous people covering different shifts. We provide additional income and opportunities for people at the start of their working lives, those who cannot live on their main income and those funding their studies. Yet these very people are being left behind: apprentices, minijob employees and student workers are not eligible for short-time working support.

We need a solution. We do not want to lose these employees, who are central to our plans for reopening, but we cannot pay their wages out of our own pockets for months without any income.

4. Financial assistance and grants for medium-sized businesses

The state has promised billions in support for otherwise healthy businesses put into difficulty solely by the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly through KfW loans distributed by their banks. That is a welcome first step. However, banks still carry part of the risk and understandably impose safeguards of their own.

We call on the state to guarantee the full risk so that assistance can reach those who need it quickly and simply. We understand that processing takes time and are doing everything possible to bridge the gap with our own resources, despite having no revenue. But procedures must be fast: every week makes the financial situation more difficult.

We also call for non-repayable grants for medium-sized businesses. Loans postpone the problem rather than solve it. Through no fault of our own, we will emerge from this crisis heavily indebted, while still repaying existing loans and interest. Those repayments could constrain us for years and prevent future investment, if we survive at all. As medium-sized businesses that have managed responsibly for years, we feel overlooked. At present, non-repayable assistance is reaching small businesses, large corporations or companies already near insolvency. Businesses with reserves fall through the gaps. We face piles of forms, conditions and qualifications, with little prospect of rapid help.

5. Uncertainty about the months ahead

We understand that this situation is unprecedented and there is no ready-made plan. Nevertheless, we need a broad outlook to manage our cash flow. Banks also require one when we apply for loans. Are we talking about two months, six or twelve?

None of us expects normal life to resume immediately after Easter, as the closure dates in current orders might suggest. We are ready to accept our responsibility to protect people by preventing large gatherings for sport and leisure. But we need a phased route out of closure to survive. We would like to propose ways for smaller groups to return gradually, subject to protective measures.

We need politicians to make the fundamental decisions that serve the public interest and, above all, to help quickly. We also need experts who can assess the wider situation.

But collective knowledge matters. You do not have to solve every detail of our industry yourselves. We know our sector, and we are standing together, supporting one another and developing ideas to find a way through.

Please listen to our ideas, take them on board and act.

Together, once the crisis is over, we want to help people put coronavirus behind them and rediscover their enjoyment of life.

Please arrange a meeting with our sector in the coming days so that we can develop practical plans together. North Rhine-Westphalia will need places for enjoyment and activity after the crisis as much as ever.

Yours sincerely,

ActionZone Düsseldorf
Adrenalin Park
Alma Park, your events and leisure park
Aqualand
Blackfoot Beach
Black Pearl und Piratenland-Neuwied
Boulderplanet
Bronx Rock Kletterhalle
Bubenheimer Spieleland
Canyon Chorweiler
Cosmo Sports Düsseldorf
Düsseldorfer Kompass
ExitZone Düsseldorf
ExitZone Essen
ExitZone Mönchengladbach
FLEXX Fitness GmbH
Fußballgolf Berrendorf
GlowZone Bielefeld
Halle 99
Hi-Fly Hilden
Hi-Fly Mönchengladbach
HopLop Indoor-Abenteuerpark
JUMP House Köln
K11 – Bouldern in der Südstadt
Kletterfabrik Köln
Kölner Kompass
Kölntourist Personenschiffahrt am Dom
LANXESS arena
Lasertag Evolution
Laserzone Bielefeld
Laserzone Duisburg
Laserzone Düsseldorf
Laserzone Essen Borbeck
Laserzone Essen Kray
Laserzone Mönchengladbach
Minigolf – Alter Militärring
MOTORWORLD Köln
PoolBall-Arena Köln
SEA LIFE Königswinter
Sharky Sportsclub
Soccer World
SPRUNG.RAUM Köln/Bonn
Stuntwerk
Superfly Air Sports Aachen
Superfly Air Sports Bielefeld
Superfly Air Sports Dortmund
Superfly Air Sports Duisburg
Superfly Air Sports Düsseldorf
Superfly Air Sports Moers
Team Escape Köln
THE CODE AGENCY
TimeRide Cöln
TRAMPOLINO Kinderspielpark

North Rhine-Westphalia leisure businesses' initiative during the coronavirus crisis

Press contact:

Isabel Albrecht
Mobile: +49 175 417 38 10
Email: isabel.albrecht@jumphouse.de