OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2024

Austria

Tourism in the economy and outlook 

Tourism is an important driver of the Austrian economy. The sector is estimated to have directly contributed EUR 20.3 billion or 4.3% of total GDP in 2023, more than double the amount of 2021 (EUR 8.9 billion) but still short of pre-pandemic levels of EUR 21.9 billion or 5.5% of GDP in 2019.

Austria counted 217 500 employees connected to accommodation and restaurants, contributing to 5.6% of total employment in 2022. International travel receipts reached EUR 19.1 billion in 2022, or 23.9% of total service exports – this is almost double the amount of 2021 (EUR 10.5 billion or 14.8% of service exports) but still below 2019 levels (EUR 22.9 billion or 29.9% of service exports).

The number of international tourist arrivals recorded in all accommodation establishments (commercial and private) in 2023 was 30.9 million, or 97% of 2019 levels. This is up 144% from the lowest of the pandemic, in 2021. Germany remains the top international source market, accounting for 52% of overnight stays, followed by the Netherlands (10%) and Switzerland (4%).

Domestic tourist arrivals in paid accommodation totalled 14.3 million (a 99.9% recovery on 2019 levels), with 39.9 million bednights registered (99.9% on 2019 levels).

Latest forecasts by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research from May 2024 expect around 81.5 million overnights for the summer season 2024, a 3.3% increase compared to the same period in 2019. However, tourism revenue in real terms is expected to stay below 2019 levels, due to continuously high inflation and visitors spending less money.

Tourism governance 

At the national level, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy is responsible for tourism policy and is overseen by a Parliamentary Committee for Tourism. Legislative and executive responsibility for tourism affairs resides with the nine provinces (Länder). Co-ordination between the Ministry and the Länder is supported through a Steering Group for Tourism. In addition, the Ministry works with other ministries, departments, institutions, and the private sector on specific topics either via permanent groups, round tables or on a case-by-case basis (e.g. new funding schemes, new legislation affecting tourism).

Austria Tourism, the National Tourist Office, is responsible for market research, brand management, marketing, tourism networking, innovation, and information provision. The Austrian Bank for Tourism Development is a specialised tourism bank acting in a public-private partnership with the Ministry. Statistics Austria collects and disseminates tourism data.

The national tourism administration had a total budget of EUR 65.7 million in 2023. Of this, EUR 28 million was dedicated to financial support for SMEs administered by Austrian Bank for Tourism Development with a further EUR 30.1 million allocated to the Austrian National Tourist Office. The Ministry disbursed EUR 5.8 million through individual subsidies for co-financed tourism projects and service contracts. In addition, SMEs in the tourism sector received EUR 23.3 million from the European Recovery Programme. In addition to the national budget, all nine Länder have tourism budgets to support specific tourism development programmes.

Austria: Organisational chart of tourism bodies

Source: OECD, adapted from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy, 2024.

Tourism policies and programmes

Austria’s national tourism strategy – the Plan T - Master Plan for Tourism – was launched in spring 2019 and continues to be the base of national tourism policy. The Plan T aims to contribute to the implementation of Agenda 2030 to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Plan T has nine priority areas, supplemented by specific action plans that outline short-term objectives and respective measures, which for the years 2023-24 include:

• Strengthening the awareness of tourism: actions to further develop tourism indicators to measure success in all dimensions of sustainability (e.g. tourism energy mix, energy consumption, tourism acceptance, inflation/price competitiveness, number of Ecolabel certified enterprises and destinations). Other actions include pooling expertise on policy trends and promoting targeted networking through new formats of stakeholder involvement.

• Establishing a co-operative culture: actions to intensify co-operation with the federal states and political/private stakeholders on sustainability in general, sustainable mobility, digitalisation, financing and tourism marketing.

• Using digital potential: actions to support ongoing development of a Tourism Data Space to collect, exchange and link tourism-relevant data to benefit visitors and businesses and run use cases on visitor management, AI-supported booking/price forecasting, energy efficiency optimisation. Other actions include digitalising the guest registration system and establishing a digital accommodation register; and strengthening digital skills through Austrian National Tourist Office’s Data Stewards programme.

• Designing an attractive business environment: actions to improve framework conditions for short-term rentals and support measures for business succession.

• Making training and labour market fit for the future: actions include an online awareness raising campaign Team Tourism = Strong Industry = Your Chance launched in June 2023 to attract and retain staff in the long-term, on social media and a dedicated website. Other actions include developing new curricula for tourism schools and facilitating the entrance of non-EU tourism professionals into the Austrian labour market with the Red-White-Red card and the increase of seasonal quotas.

• Keeping our livelihood sustainable: actions include increasing the number of certified businesses and destinations (with focus on the Austrian Ecolabel) and providing support to the sector on issues such as sustainable tourism mobility and energy efficiency based on a certification strategy and workshops (event series, dedicated platforms, information material, guidelines).

• Creating regional value-added for everybody: actions include the RESY-Dashboard with data on municipal level for various indicators, launched in June 2024. The dashboard is the result of a pilot project with two destinations on implementing regional information and monitoring systems; co-operation with the agricultural sector via a culinary network; and the 2024 edition of Austria’s Tourism Innovation Price, which focuses on culinary experiences.

• Further developing tourism marketing: the National Tourist Office has the following main fields of activity: i) communication: current campaign A Summer in Austria – Your Daily Dose of 'Lebensgefühl', marketing initiatives on art and culture (e.g. Feel Austria Festival, influencer trips); ii) co-operation: product development and marketing with stakeholders and Austrian Tourism Day; iii) innovation: AI projects, new B2C and B2B website, focus on sustainability initiatives, market and trend research; and iv) strengthening worldwide network with Austrian embassies and the trade promotion organisation of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.

• Making financing and promotion more flexible: includes actions to develop new funding guidelines for tourism SME with a focus on resilience and sustainability (see box below); make use of EU funds for innovative tourism projects; and provide continuous funding support of alpine infrastructure.

New funding guidelines for tourism SMEs in Austria: ‘Sustainability bonus’ and ESG indicators

In 2023, the Austrian Ministry of Labour and Economy through the Austrian Bank for Tourism Development presented new funding guidelines to support investments by family-run and owner-managed tourism SMEs to strengthen sustainability and financial resilience. The scheme includes subsidised loans and guarantees, along with a ‘sustainability bonus’ of 7% (max. EUR 350 000) of the investment costs in one of three categories: ecology, staff & regions, digitalisation.

To address tourism intensity and land use issues, the guidelines exclude funding for new buildings in municipalities with over 500.000 overnight stays per tourism year (baseline 2021-22) and projects that increase land surface sealing by over 25%. In 2023, 12 tourism SMEs were granted ‘sustainability bonuses’ worth a total of EUR 1.7 million.

Moreover, a tourism-specific questionnaire on environment, social and governance (ESG) performance indicators was developed in 2023, for use by banks and businesses to assess their sustainability performance. Information is collected by the public-private bank OeKB Group in its ESG Data Hub. In addition, the Austrian Bank for Tourism Development requires businesses at time of application and during the funding period to report the ESG performance indicators. In the future, the bank plans to publish aggregated ESG data at regular intervals.

Statistical Profile

Austria: Domestic, inbound and outbound tourism

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
TOURISM FLOWS, THOUSAND
Domestic tourism
Total domestic trips	..	..	..	..	..
Overnight visitors (tourists)	14 033	14 312	9 939	9 416	13 580
Same-day visitors (excursionists)	..	..	..	..	..
Nights in all types of accommodation	39 390	39 944	31 596	29 599	38 881
Hotels and similar establishments	34 201	34 767	25 724	24 577	33 457
Other collective establishments	1 734	1 737	2 267	2 098	2 135
Private accommodation	3 454	3 440	3 605	2 924	3 289
Inbound tourism
Total international arrivals	..	..	..	..	..
Overnight visitors (tourists)	30 816	31 884	15 091	12 728	26 215
Same-day visitors (excursionists)	..	..	..	..	..
Top markets
Germany	14 092	14 383	8 550	7 810	13 526
Netherlands	2 001	2 074	1 361	934	2 049
Switzerland and Liechtenstein	1 445	1 451	805	573	1 124
Italy	1 099	1 108	331	335	821
United Kingdom	996	966	304	86	653
Nights in all types of accommodation	110 430	112 765	66 280	49 964	98 031
Hotels and similar establishments	84 078	85 982	47 408	35 753	73 752
Other collective establishments	5 216	5 404	3 735	4 282	5 718
Private accommodation	21 136	21 379	15 137	9 930	18 561
Outbound tourism
Total international departures	13 646	14 388	5 072	8 628	16 790
Overnight visitors (tourists)	11 043	11 902	3 965	7 522	14 041
Same-day visitors (excursionists)	2 604	2 486	1 108	1 106	2 749
Top destinations
Germany	2 044	2 559	1 154	1 633	2 379
Italy	2 058	2 269	749	1 994	2 997
Croatia	1 375	1 000	237	845	1 549
Spain	504	629	129	351	752
Greece	322	577	93	469	571
TOURISM RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE, MILLION EUR
Inbound tourism
Total international receipts	21 404	23 127	13 436	10 168	21 205
International travel receipts	19 559	20 493	12 124	8 836	18 912
International passenger transport receipts	1 845	2 634	1 312	1 332	2 293
Outbound tourism
Total international expenditure	11 967	12 491	4 518	6 894	12 273
International travel expenditure	10 019	10 364	3 925	6 135	10 591
International passenger transport expenditure	1 948	2 127	593	759	1 682

.. Not available

Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database).

Statlink

Austria: Enterprises and employment in tourism

	Number of establishments1	Number of persons employed
	2018	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Total	..	..	..	..	..	..
Tourism industries	89 544	199 300	205 700	128 600	107 800	..
Accommodation services for visitors	..	130 600	134 700	94 800	79 600	..
Hotels and similar establishments	16 577	..	..	..	..	..
Food and beverage serving industry	31 597	..	..	..	..	..
Passenger transport	12 489	34 500	35 700	11 700	9 000	..
Air passenger transport	169	..	..	..	..	..
Railways passenger transport	32	..	..	..	..	..
Road passenger transport	12 199	..	..	..	..	..
Water passenger transport	89	..	..	..	..	..
Passenger transport supporting services	..	..	..	..	..	..
Transport equipment rental	2 675	..	..	..	..	..
Travel agencies and other reservation services industry	2 488	11 500	11 900	9 900	8 100	..
Cultural industry	21 980	22 700	23 300	12 200	11 000	..
Sports and recreation industry	1 738		..	..	..	..
Retail trade of country-specific tourism characteristic goods	..	..	..	..	..	..
Other country-specific tourism industries	..	..	..	..	..	..
Other industries	..	..	..	..	..	..

.. Not available

1. Data refer to number of enterprises.

Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database).

Statlink

Austria: Internal tourism consumption

Million EUR

	2022
	Domestic tourism expenditure	Inbound tourism expenditure	Internal tourism consumption
Total	11 113	18 718	30 821
Consumption products	..	..	..
Tourism characteristic products	..	..	..
Accommodation services for visitors	..	..	9 113
Food and beverage serving services	..	..	7 004
Passenger transport services	..	..	5 543
Air passenger transport services	..	..	1 520
Railways passenger transport services	..	..	1 063
Road passenger transport services	..	..	2 890
Water passenger transport services	..	..	69
Passenger transport supporting services	..	..	..
Transport equipment rental services	..	..	151
Travel agencies and other reservation services industry	..	..	404
Cultural services	..	..	3 067
Sports and recreation services	..	..	..
Country-specific tourism characteristic goods	..	..	..
Country-specific tourism characteristic services	..	..	..
Other consumption products	..	..	5 540
Tourism connected products	..	..	..
Non-tourism related consumption products	..	..	..
Non-consumption products	..	..	..

.. Not available

Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database).

Statlink