VIENNA: OVERNIGHT STAYS DROPPED BY ALMOST 4%

Vienna recorded 3.8 percent less overnight stays in 2009. Greatest losses were announced by 4-star hotels. The city tries to compensate for the decrease in visitor numbers by luring Asian travelers.  With 9.8 million overnight stays (- 3.8 %) in 2009 Vienna reached one of the best results in tourism in comparison with the previous years. This positive assessment was made by the President of the Vienna Tourist Board Renate Brauner. However the turnover in the overnight stays in the hotel industry (from January to November) went down by 14.1 percent to € 384 million. The considerable decrease is caused by declining rates, reported TouristAustria.at. The decrease of the overnight stays affected mostly 4-star hotels where the figures for 2009 show a drop of 8.4 percent. 5-star hotels on the other hand recorded a slight increase of 3.8 percent and 3-star facilities announced 0.7 percent more overnight stays. The number of total visitor arrivals in Vienna decreased by 4.5 percent in 2009. This suggests that tourists coming to the Austrian capital preferred longer stays over short breaks.The decrease of around 400,000 overnight stays recorded by accommodation facilities was caused mainly by the lack of guests coming from traditional source countries: Germany and USA (-2 %), Italy (-3 to -7%), Switzerland and United Kingdom (-10%), Russia (-12%), Romania (-13%) and Spain (-15%). The number of domestic Austrian tourists also dropped – by 2 percent.On the other hand the number of overnight stays of Japanese tourists grew by 8 percent. The Asian market represents in total more than 500,000 overnight stays for hotels in Vienna. The increase in the number of visitors coming from Asia (e.g. China +16%, Taiwan +36%), representing 45,000 overnight stays, can however hardly compensate for the declining numbers of German visitors.  Related:SAVE HUNDREDS OF EUROS IN AUSTRIAN SKI RESORTS VIENNA LOOKS TO HASTEN INBOUND VISITS