The prices of hotel stays are on the rise. The electricity crisis is causing hotels to watch, for example, room temperatures and lighting.
The air temperature in the swimming pools of the Rantasalmelainen spa hotel Järvisydämi is 32 degrees. The spa is the tourist destination’s biggest source of energy. It is heated with ground heat, solar energy and lake heat.
Still, the spa hotel’s electricity bills are dizzying. Even now, Järvisydäme has a fixed-price electricity contract that pays six cents per kilowatt hour. The electricity bill is 400,000 euros per year.
– It’s the worst moment to break up after December. If the prices rise even to the euro as has been hinted at, anyone will realize that the conditions for the operation will end.
If the price of the euro really materializes, the annual electricity bill in Järvisydäme would be more than 6.5 million euros.
The tourism and restaurant industry is now in a historically difficult situation. Hotels all over Finland are looking for ways to save electricity.
The costs increase the prices of hotel stays
The energy crisis is testing the tourism and restaurant industry from two directions: at the same time as the energy price increases costs, customers’ opportunities to purchase services decrease. The cash deficit caused by the corona pandemic is already a burden.
In MaRa’s survey of Tourism and Restaurant Services, more than half of the companies estimate that the electricity bill will increase by 50-300 percent next winter. Electricity saving measures have now been introduced in hotels all over Finland. Temperatures, lighting, sauna heating and, for example, the use of kitchen appliances are closely monitored.
– We are considering whether we can lower the temperatures at times of low demand in some blocks of the hotel or whether water consumption can be reduced.
Käyhkö is also the chairman of Mara’s board. From the point of view of the entire industry, he considers it inevitable that the prices of hotel stays will rise.
– There is no way to imagine that the companies were able to buffer the increase in costs from their own margins. If you think about the kind of pressure the industry has been under for the last two and a half years, it is necessary that the increased costs are transferred to customer prices.
Järvisydämi entrepreneur Markus Heiskanen agrees with Käyhkö’s thoughts.
– That’s the way it has to be, even though we should actually lower prices so that customers can afford to buy services.
Järvisydän is in such a grateful position that after foreign travel was interrupted for the duration of the corona, the spa hotel was busier than ever. Demand has calmed down recently, but there has been 26 percent growth this year as well.
Even in Järvisidämi, it has already been noticed that customers spend less money than before. The energy crisis is the biggest change for the company in decades.
– We have never had a change this big, this fast. The price of electricity rises, but at the same time it rises for consumers, says Heiskanen.
\”Your own solar power plant is essential\”
About 15 percent of companies in the tourism and restaurant industry estimate that they will be at risk of bankruptcy next winter due to the rise in electricity prices. The situation is not so bad in Järvisidälä.
The spa hotel has technology that automatically adjusts electricity use according to electricity price fluctuations. When there is a lot of electricity available and it is affordable, the hotel collects the electricity in mass storage devices. When the price rises, consumption can be reduced and backup power can be used.
– The customer may momentarily notice that the underfloor heating is a little cooler, but the change should not be noticeable at all, says Heiskanen.
Next spring, a hectare-sized solar power plant will be built in Järvisidä. It produces electricity equal to the needs of 120 detached houses. However, it is only 15 percent of the spa hotel’s electricity consumption.
The price for the power plant will be 1.1 million euros.
– It is a massive investment for us, but a necessary one. There is no going back to cheap energy. The power plant is our security for self-sufficiency, says Heiskanen.
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