Tourism 2024: Recording, but economic brakes for Austria!

Tourism 2024: Recording, but economic brakes for Austria!

Österreich - The winter season 2024/25 shows a mixed balance for Austrian tourism. From November to March, Austria recorded a record of arrivals with 17.8 million guests. Nevertheless, a slight decline is registered with the overnight stays, which decreases by 0.6 percent to 64.1 million overnight stays. Compared to the pre -crisis season 2018/19, this decline is even 0.9 percent. The numbers are strongly influenced by calendar effects, in particular by the switching day in February 2024 and the different location of the Easter holidays, which took place in 2025 in April and 2024 in March.

A calendar -cleaned view shows an increase in overnight stays by 4.7 percent, while nominal sales in travel, but real by only 2.3 percent. Local Tourism is strong on domestic guests whose overnight stays rose by 0.6 percent. In contrast, demand from abroad fell by 1 percent. This can be partially attributed to the high inflation, which strongly dampens the guests' joy of spending - for example with a price increase of 6 percent in the catering and 5.5 percent in accommodation.

forecast and economic effects

A clear demand for April is expected in the industry through the Easter holidays, which could result in a total number of around 72 million overnight stays for the 2024/25 winter season. This value would represent an increase of 1.3 percent of the year, but still remains 1.2 percent below the 2018/19 level. For the year 2025, around 154.6 million overnight stays will be expected, which corresponds to a minimal increase of 0.2 percent compared to 2024

Despite the increase in overnight stays and arrivals, the economic contribution of tourism is left behind the expectations. The price-adjusted gross value added in the accommodation and catering industry fell by 3.9 percent, while the total economic output decreased by 1.4 percent. This indicates that the tourism sector did not act as an economic engine in 2024, but rather as a light brake for the economy. Analyzes show that without the negative contribution of the sector, GDP would only have dropped by 1.3 percent.

claims for international orientation

The Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV) has repeatedly called for stronger internationalization of domestic tourism. This measure could help increase the economic performance of the sector and reduce the dependence on domestic guests. The current development illustrates the challenges that the industry faces, in particular in view of the economic uncertainties and the reserved expenditure of consumers.

Overall, the winter season 2024/25 gives hope for some positive developments, while at the same time the economic hurdles should not be underestimated. A stable view for the coming months could have to be adapted to the economic conditions in order to promote demand sustainably.

For more detailed information, the reports from meinzirk.at and wifo.ac.at are consulted.