Austria is a major tourist destination: 29.5 million international arrivals in 2017 for 106 million nights (source: WTO). This has been true for many years: in 2009 Austria represented 4.6% of international arrivals in Europe; nearly 10 years later, this figure practically hasn’t changed and was 4.39% in 2017. So why Austria? What more is there to say about this country that is an old standard of tourism? The answer is simple: plenty. Recently Austria realized impressive results: double-digit growth in RevPAR, soaring occupancy rates, a number of tourists up by 5% in 2017... does Austria have any surprises up its sleeve?
Austria, a very solid destination
Austria has long been part of the tourist ecumene. The Republic of the Alps has no shortage of attractions of interest: the Salzburg Festival, which has been held in the city of Salzburg since 1920, the Grossglockner, the highest peak in the country, culminating at 3,798 meters, the palaces of the old city of Vienna... The country has no fewer than 10 sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. So many places, so many landscapes, offering an inexhaustible mine of tourist resources. Austrian culture plays no small role either: this is the country of Mozart, Freud, Klimt... and of course Viennese pastries... The figures alone demonstrate the importance of tourism in Austria: according to Statistik Austria, the national statistical institute, tourism accounted for 8.7% of GDP in 2017, or €32.253 billion. A considerable impact for this country, which has some 9 million inhabitants (8,772,865 in 2017).
Breakdown of accommodations in Austria
One of the main reasons for this importance in terms of tourism value is the destination’s "luxury" aspect. Here again, the figures speak for themselves: a quarter of the country’s hotels have 4- or 5- star ratings. The national average daily rate, for corporate chains, is €98.20 in 2018 (source: MKG Consulting Observatory / OK_destination): more than the average rate in France, Spain or Portugal, for example. This undoubtedly explains the presence in the country of well-known, very high-end brands. Especially in Vienna: a Ritz Carlton that opened in Vienna in 2013, the Sacher Hotel, with its renowned Sachertorte, is one of the old names in luxury hotels in Europe, and the Imperial Hotel, under Marriott’s Luxury Collection along with the Bristol Hotel. The destination’s image is marked by all that is upscale: Austria is a prestigious country, where the sun shines on the gold leaf...
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