There are very few complaints from the Austrian tourism industry regarding the current economic situation. While high energy costs and, more importantly, increased personnel costs remain concerns, the situation with vacancies could be better. However, there are currently no significant calls for help from industry representatives.
Looking at last year's figures, this lack of concern is understandable. Tourism in Austria had a record year, with 154.3 million overnight stays by tourists from Germany and abroad, surpassing the previous record of 152.7 million set in 2019.
Tyrol accounted for the largest share of overnight stays, at just under 32 percent, and saw a growth of 1.6 percent compared to 2023. Following Tyrol, Salzburg had around 20 percent of overnight stays, with a slight increase of 0.1 percent, while Vienna made up 12.2 percent, experiencing a notable increase of 9.3 percent. According to Statistics Austria, Lower Austria recorded a slight decline of 0.3 percent in overnight stays. The previous year's flooding significantly impacted these figures.
German Guests and Holiday Apartments
Looking at visitors' demographics, it is evident that, as in previous years, most guests come from Germany, accounting for approximately 37.9 percent. Domestic travelers follow this at 26.1 percent, then the Dutch at 7.2 percent. Guests from Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, and Hungary represent between 3 percent and 1.4 percent of the total.
Regarding accommodation types, the most significant growth has been in holiday apartments, which increased by 8.1 percent, and in four—and five-star hotels, which grew by 4.1 percent. Demand from international visitors for holiday apartments is robust. However, hotels in the mid-price segment did not perform well, experiencing a decline of 1.6 percent.
Record Value Also in Vienna
City tourism achieved a new record of 27.48 million overnight stays in total, up from 25.98 million in 2019. Of this total, 18.87 million overnight stays were recorded in Vienna alone. Salzburg has stabilized at over three million overnight stays in recent years, while Innsbruck recorded approximately 1.9 million overnight stays last year.
Experts predict that, in the future, travel businesses in Austria will see further increases in earnings in the highly turbulent times. These companies are expected to see higher profits generally, and increased personnel costs will eventually stabilize. Additionally, Austrian tourism is anticipated to grow in global significance, with particularly strong growth expected in Asia, as evidenced by the high number of aircraft orders in that region.