On Tuesday, April 23, the City of Frankfurt am Main and the Frankfurt Economic Development Agency invited representatives from Frankfurt's gastronomy sector to the newly launched "Gastro Brunch". Around 60 restaurateurs came together at the naïv Tasting Room & event location in Fahrgasse to discuss current challenges facing the hospitality industry and to look ahead to an eventful summer.
In addition to welcoming speeches from City Councillor Stephanie Wüst, Ansgar Roese, Managing Director of Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt, Lena Iyigün from Initiative Gastronomie and Luise Parat from DEHOGA, restaurateur Simon Horn gave a keynote speech on the topic of "Pop Up Placemaking". The operator and co-managing director of "Margarete", "Frankfurter Neue Küche" and "People going places", gave an insight into how gastronomic businesses can use temporary vacant spaces. A topic that affects both the gastronomy sector and urban policy in equal measure and, in times of multiple crises, offers an opportunity to revitalize urban city and commercial space.
City Councillor Wüst: Joining forces for better framework conditions
City Councillor Stephanie Wüst said: "Frankfurt is a city that impresses with its diversity, dynamism and openness. Our lively gastronomy scene is undoubtedly a key contributor to these attributes. However, recent years have also shown that it is precisely this vibrant sector that is facing major challenges: In addition to a shortage of young talent, the gastronomy sector is also faced with rising costs. As an international metropolis in particular, an excellent range of restaurants is essential, it is like a calling card for hospitality."
The aim must be to improve the overall conditions for the restaurant industry in Frankfurt, emphasized Wüst: "We discussed opening hours, outdoor gastronomy and other specific topics that are of great importance. A summer evening in Frankfurt is unimaginable without attractive outdoor gastronomy. The hospitality industry in particular is responsible for ensuring that popular places for social gatherings remain clean and that the interests of local residents are protected. Joining forces and highlighting the achievements of restaurateurs is an ongoing process and an important step in improving the general conditions."
Ansgar Roese said: "With over 2,500 restaurants and around 70,000 jobs and apprenticeships, the hospitality industry and tourism represent an important economic factor for Frankfurt am Main. And the hospitality industry thrives above all on its immense diversity: with traditional cider taverns and ultra-modern Michelin-starred restaurants, gastronomy plays an immense role in our urban life. As an economic development agency, we are delighted with its appeal - also internationally - and are very interested in making Frankfurt known not only as a financial metropolis, but also as a city of pleasure far beyond its borders."
Lena Iyigün from the Initiative Gastronomie Frankfurt, also co-initiator of the "Gastro Brunch", added: "As an interest group with more than 100 member companies from Frankfurt's gastronomy sector, the exchange with the Economic Development Agency and the Department of Economics is an important concern for us. We are particularly dependent on the support of politicians and the authorities, such as the Immigration Office, when it comes to the challenging issue of the shortage of skilled workers. We need to ensure that applications are processed more quickly in future so that we can get more people into fairly paid jobs and integrate them. Together, we can also advance other important issues such as climate protection, strengthening apprenticeships and revitalizing urban areas. Our particular focus here is currently on the upcoming outdoor catering sector, as our guests want to spend longer sitting outside on the terraces in good weather, especially now in spring and then in summer for the European Championships. Here, too, we are dependent on good cooperation with the authorities and local residents."
Frankfurt in summer 2024: Exciting challenges for the hospitality industry
A look at the statistics from recent years shows that the hospitality industry continues to be of great importance as a host and economic factor in Frankfurt. It is estimated that the Main metropolis generates around 120 million euros in taxes through the catering industry.
With the European Championships coming up this year and Frankfurt am Main as the venue, the catering industry will play an important role. From June 14 to July 14, five matches will take place on the Main; four group matches will be followed by a round of 16 match on July 1. The city center is also preparing for a huge rush: from the Iron Footbridge to the Peace Bridge, there will be the largest fan mile in Germany with a length of 1.4 kilometers. Frankfurt will certainly be a place of assembly and culture in the summer of 2024. So there are plenty of topics that industry representatives will continue to discuss in dialog with city politicians.
