The Austrian economic research institute expects that the Alpine republic can benefit from a high desire to travel. However, the sometimes enormously sharp rise in prices also has a negative effect, because overall sales in the tourism industry are falling. Austrians in particular should turn their backs on domestic holidays. 

With almost 19 million arrivals and around 69,3 million overnight stays, the demand for holiday stays in Austria rose sharply in winter 2022/23 (+45,6% and +31,5% compared to winter 2021/22). The previous highs of the 2018/19 season were still 7,1% short of arrivals and 4,9% of overnight stays, which means that the historically third-best winter result was achieved. A very good booking situation is emerging for the 2023 summer season, but the price-adjusted sales development will be weaker, according to the economic research institute based on figures from Statistics Austria. 

After the season in winter 2021/22 was impaired due to the pandemic and the gap compared to the pre-crisis winter season 2019 was more than a third (arrivals) or a good quarter (overnight stays), there was great concern before the start of last winter that the high inflation would further delay the recovery of the Austrian tourism industry. Surveys on holiday behavior also confirmed that holiday planning among domestic and German guests was influenced by inflation.  

Ultimately, however, there were no significant restrictions on the duration and frequency of travel, so that the number of guests and overnight stays rose sharply. However, sales could not keep pace: According to an estimate by WIFO, sales increased nominally by +2018% (to €19 billion) compared to winter 9,3/16,5, but adjusted for price this results in a decrease of just over 13% (Figure 1). Although guests increased their holiday budgets in response to the rise in prices, the higher prices were not fully compensated for.  

Outlook summer season 2023 

The Austrian tourism industry is currently also very positive about the coming summer: the data from the WIFO business survey for assessing the future business situation in accommodation and gastronomy has shown a clear upward trend in the course of the year to date. Positive prospects for the 2023 summer season can also be derived from the results of various recent guest surveys in Austria and in important source markets such as Germany and the Netherlands lag behind those of arrivals and overnight stays. The expected increase in demand will primarily be driven by guests from foreign markets, while domestic guests will increasingly be drawn abroad again. 

On the basis of this information, an overnight stay scenario was created for the summer of 2023: In the course of the season, the pre-crisis level could be exceeded by 1% to 2% and a new overnight stay high could be achieved with a total of a good 80 million overnight stays in the coming summer season. The number of overnight stays by foreign and domestic guests should exceed the level of summer 2019 by around 1,5%, compared to summer 2022 this corresponds to an increase of 5,4% for foreign travelers, while overnight stays by domestic guests decreased by around 3% is to be expected. 

Inflation makes domestic holidays less attractive

The fact that there is recently less demand for holidays in Germany is probably also due to the fact that the prices are sometimes significantly higher in direct comparison with some foreign destinations that are currently specifically marketing themselves as "cheap destinations". Many are currently booking all-inclusive holidays, which is very rarely offered in Austria, in order to protect themselves from any additional costs for food and drinks. Based on a survey, the Chamber of Labor found that the high everyday costs are also clearly noticeable in the area of ​​leisure, because many Austrians should cut back here, not least for financial reasons. 

Innsbruck Airport Manager Marco Pernetta recently said that demand is currently extremely high. But the manager also warned that the market situation can change very quickly due to ongoing inflation. The entire travel and tourism industry is currently benefiting from a high level of pent-up demand that the corona pandemic has left behind, but there are concerns that large parts of the population will no longer be able to afford vacations or trips if inflation persists.