The classic Christmas tree stands tall in Frankfurt’s main square, but the annual Christmas market is quiet. Despite the fact that sales is down 50% from two years ago due to covid worries and sanitary limitations, many booth owners are grateful to be operating at all.
Anuschka Haman, the manager of the candle stand, stated, “We are so glad that we can be here this year.” “We are grateful to Frankfurt for allowing us to visit. We’re all happy to follow the rules, such as donning a mask while in the stall and again when we leave.”Others aren’t so fortunate. Christmas markets have been closed in Bavaria, Saxony, and neighboring Austria.
Economists, on the other hand, believe there is hope at the end of the tunnel. Although “the near term outlook has indeed darkened for the economy and especially for private consumption,” Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London, said that “it is now more likely than before that, say come February, people will be fully protected and will be able to enjoy life almost as normal again and spend money roughly as normal again.” However, that bright outlook is contingent on health authorities’ ability to contain the threat posed by the Omicron variety.