Vacation in Austria Booms - But a Setback Looms

The domestic tourism sector attracted more guests in 2024 than in the pre-Corona year 2019 for the first time. There were particularly strong increases from China and Japan, with Vienna acting as a growth driver, according to a recent study by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research.

For 2025, however, WIFO expects less growth due to rising domestic prices and the frugality of vacationers. Additionally, fewer Germans and Dutch are visiting.

Vacation in Austria Surpasses Pre-Corona Levels for the First Time

"Tourism is not only on a growth path worldwide, but guest and overnight numbers are also significantly increasing in Austria," states the WIFO report. In the summer season of 2024, overnight stays in Austria were 3.3 percent above the 2019 level. According to the information, very strong impulses came from international travel: demand from China increased by a whopping 85.6 percent, and from Japan by 32.3 percent.

Competitiveness Under Pressure

In the winter season of 2024/25, however, domestic hotels, guesthouses, and holiday apartments were slightly below pre-crisis levels in terms of overnight bookings: the season performed 0.7 percent worse than in 2018/19. At the same time, tourists spent 14.5 percent less money than before the pandemic. Overall, Austria's price competitiveness has suffered, said WIFO economist and study author Oliver Fritz: "Austria has definitely lost price competitiveness as a tourism country." Price increases in the energy and food sectors have burdened the tourism industry, added the president of the Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV), Walter Veit.

Less Growth Expected for 2025

For the entire year of 2025, WIFO expects a slowdown in growth. Already, fewer guests are coming from traditionally strong Western European source markets such as Germany and the Netherlands. However, the number of guests from Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic increased this year.

Many German vacationers have canceled their winter holidays in Austria due to the weaker economic situation in their home country, reported Veit. "That hurts us a lot." According to Fritz, skiing is likely to become even more expensive in the future, as the costs for artificial snowmaking are rising: "Skiing will certainly become more of a luxury vacation in the medium term than it is today."

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.