OBERFRANKEN - Economy
Traditional branches of industry predominate
The strength of Upper Franconia lies in its economic diversity. The branches of the manufacturing industry that employ the greatest number of people in Upper Franconia are dominated by traditional sectors: textiles and clothing (Wunsiedel im Fichtelgebirge district), fine ceramics (Hof), electrical engineering (including the manufacture of optical fibre cables in Coburg), mechanical engineering, and the production of furniture, basketwork and plastics. The restructuring towards high-growth branches that has been taking place in Upper Franconia in recent years is now having a positive effect. New technologies such as microelectronics and new materials have become increasingly important.
The unification of Germany represents a great opportunity for Upper Franconia. The re-establishment of economic links with the highly industrialised neighbouring regions in the new Länder, as well as with Bohemia, is turning this Regierungsbezirk into an industrial centre of the future.
With 4.2 million overnight stays recorded in the area in 2003, tourism is concentrated in the Fichtelgebirge, Franconian Switzerland and the Franconian forest. In upper Franconia as a whole, almost 2.8 million overnight stays were recorded in hotels in 2003. There has been a marked rise in the number of overnight stays in the areas close to the former GDR and Czechoslovakia following the opening-up of these borders.
|
|