Tjaereborg’s Withdrawal from Garda: Impact on Tourism and Economy

Graciously, but without the possibility of appeal, the general manager of Tjaereborg – who has traveled expressly from Denmark – is informing all hotel operators in the Benaco area with whom he maintains working relations that in 2001, the large Scandinavian tourism agency will remove Garda from its destinations.

Blame for this, he said, lies in prices that are no longer competitive: especially compared to Turkey, which is offering holiday packages at half the cost that the tour operator manages to secure along the Benaco shore. Economically speaking, Tjaereborg’s withdrawal, which each year takes hundreds of thousands of Scandinavians around the world, means a net loss of three airplanes per week for roughly six months for Garda.

Translated into daily hotel stays, we’re talking about roughly one hundred thousand: divided among Riva, Limone, Malcesine, and Garda. A significant economic loss, there’s no doubt: although it’s true that the Danish company has been declining on the lake for years, far from the 30 airplanes a week it managed to operate in the early 1980s.

Historical and future implications of the change

But the loss of Tjaereborg is not only an economic matter. It is a “historic” news and a warning bell. The company has operated on the lake for nearly fifty years, and it is thanks to it that the so-called “mass tourism” emerged, driving the growth of large hotels (especially the economic boom of Limone) and the so-called “long season.” It is therefore the end of an era, although how it will be replaced remains uncertain.

From here, the warning bell rings: if companies like Tjaereborg are pulling back, their example could soon be mimicked. With the German clientele stable but hard to increase, the strongest opportunity seems to be the “British” market. But will it last? And what will need to be offered to them? The Bemacense tourism community is justifiably concerned.