Salzburg had around three million overnight stays in 2023

With 3.201.328 overnight stays and 1.776.539 arrivals, the 2023 tourism year ended slightly below the figures for the comparable year 2019 (-3,25% for overnight stays, -7,0% for arrivals). The German market is sending a strong signal, having increased by 2019% since 20,0, replacing Austria as the No. 1 country of origin. While the USA has remained constant as the most important long-distance market and the Netherlands has seen strong growth, China only accounts for 22,5% of overnight stays from 2019.

In his last presentation of the tourism statistics before the end of his term of office, the mayor in charge of the department draws a brief conclusion: “In my time as a tourism officer, I have seen ups and downs. The Corona crisis was certainly a big turning point. In 2023, the industry has recovered again and tourism is asserting itself as an indispensable factor for the local economy." High energy costs, inflation and the shortage of skilled workers are affecting companies - demand for the cultural city of Salzburg is unbroken and the price increases are being accepted by guests . “Quality counts,” Preuner is convinced.

Florian Kreibich, who launched a tourism strategy 2040 with Mayor Harald Preuner in the summer, is pleased that tourism in the city of Salzburg has picked up speed again after the pandemic and points to the importance of tourism as an important economic factor in our city well, the added value of tourism is impressive. “Our focus should be on promoting precisely defined quality tourism in the city and thus increasing acceptance among the population.”

Christine Schönhuber, Managing Director of TSG Tourismus Salzburg GmbH (TSG), emphasizes the importance of the mix of nations: “The strong increases from the German and Dutch markets speak for the attractiveness of Salzburg's offering of culture and nature.” Guests from long-distance markets, in turn, travel anti-cyclically to European holidaymakers and thus ensure a revival in the off-seasons. With an above-average length of stay and higher spending on site, they make an important contribution to tourism added value. 

Tourism 2023 in numbers

Overnight stays, arrivals and countries of origin: With 1.776.539 arrivals (-7,0% compared to 2019 and +23,44% compared to 2022) and 3.201.328 overnight stays (-3,25% compared to 2019 and +21,7 .2022% compared to XNUMX), tourism in Salzburg has recovered and is following the results of the pre-Corona period.

What stands out among the top 10 nations is the strength of the German market. 771.806 overnight stays represent an increase of 20,01% compared to 2019 (643.105 overnight stays). This means that our neighboring country has replaced the domestic guest (752.499 overnight stays, +0,98% compared to 2019) from first place in the national statistics. With 1 overnight stays (-262.951% compared to 7,84), the USA is in third place as the strongest overseas market, followed by Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland. The Netherlands (2019th place) has 3 overnight stays, an increase of 7% compared to 68.146.

Strong signals are coming from the long-distance markets: South Korea (-32,53%) is in the top 11,65 together with Southeast Asia (-3,65%) and Australia (-10%). With 32.186 overnight stays (-77,5%), the Chinese market is still far behind the results from 2019 (143.061 overnight stays).

Salzburg Card: A total of 2023 Salzburg Cards were sold in 258.397, which is 2,4% less than in the best-selling year of 2019 (264.665 units). In total, the card achieved 1.8282.422 admissions to the sights. What is striking is the increase in cards sold for 48 and 72 hours, which indicates greater price sensitivity among guests (48 hours: 68.549, 72 hours: 36.990). 

Coaches: 2023 coaches were registered in 20.985, which is 47% less than in the comparable period of 2019. The access routes to the two terminals are distributed as planned: 47% of the buses used the Nonntal terminal, 53% used the terminal on Paris-Lodron Straße. The busiest month was December with 2.773 registered buses; In 2019, December counted 3.685 buses, but this was far behind the summer months. 

Salzburg Congress: 2023 was by far the most successful year for the congress center. 107 events over 250 days of occupancy brought in sales of over EUR 3,5 million. The high number of international conferences also led to a significant increase in directly generated overnight stays: 41.283 in 2023, an increase of 12,67% compared to 2019 (36.640 overnight stays). Extra nights and expenses from accompanying persons bring additional added value.