Tourism is an important driver of the Austrian economy. In 2019, tourism directly contributed EUR 22 billion to the Austrian economy, equating to 5.6% of GDP, according to the Austrian Tourism Satellite Account. This resulted in 205 700 full-time equivalent jobs directly attributed to tourism, contributing to 5.2% of total employment in Austria. Travel exports represented 30% of total service exports in 2019.
The impacts of the COVID‑19 pandemic saw the direct contribution of tourism to the economy fall to 3.5% of both GDP and employment. The pandemic resulted in a significant decline in tourists. In 2020, there were 15.1 million international arrivals, down 53% compared to 2019, which declined an additional 15.7% in 2021. This decline in international tourists had a significant impact on international travel receipts, which remained 56.3% below 2019 levels in 2021, at EUR 10.1 billion.
The Austrian tourism sector has traditionally been international-dominant, with international tourists accounting for almost three-quarters of nights prior to the pandemic. In 2021, domestic tourists were 34.2% below pre-pandemic levels, with 9.4 million tourists recorded, but their share of nights increased to 37%.
While in January 2022 overnight stays were still 32.6% behind figures of the same month in 2019, the tourism sector has recovered well throughout the year with 112.8 million overnights recorded between January and September (down 11 % compared to 2019), in particular due to a strong summer season (May-September, down 1.4% to 2019). The outlook for the winter season 2022/2023 is considered widely positive.
