The most pleasant city in the world to live in will continue to fascinate people with its baroque architecture and abundant cultural activity. Vienna is one of the top 10 most visited cities in Europe, alongside major urban tourism destinations such as Paris, London, Barcelona and Berlin. But its success is beginning to worry. In reality, it is mainly smaller destinations such as the birthplace of Mozart, Salzburg, or the alpine village of Hallstatt that feel overcrowded. Hospitality ON assesses the Austrian situation through a comparative analysis of these three case studies. Part 2: The Facts, Figures and the Solutions.
The facts and figures
Austria has seen a significant increase in overnight stays over the past ten years. This rise was even faster than the increase in arrivals, meaning that tourists are staying longer in the country. The increase in both overnight stays and arrivals is largely due to foreign customers. The latter resulted in 30.8 million tourist arrivals, up +4.6% (compared to +3.0 for Austrian visitors) out of a total of 44.8 million (+4.1%). Foreign visitors accounted for 110.4 million overnight stays out of a total of 149.8 million overnight stays in the country for a +4.2% increase, compared with +2.2% for national visitors, who accounted for 39.4 million overnight stays.
In addition to this high proportion of foreign tourists, which shows the destination's international influence, the Austrian market tends to absorb the seasonality effect during the year. Performances in the summer and winter seasons have grown increasingly similar over the last ten years. The demand is increasingly shifting to winter, when snow destinations enjoy great success. But summer still remains the highest season of the year with 55.1% of arrivals and 51.5% of overnight stays recorded. This good level of activity year-round makes it possible to limit peaks in arrivals that could be a source of frustration for residents.
This stable level of activity is reflected in the monthly occupancy rate (OR). It fluctuates between 52% and 86% from September 2017 to September 2019. The lowest period is usually from January to March, but it has tended to improve over the past two years. During this period of the year, the OR increased from 52% in January 2018 to 59% in January 2019, from 58% in February 2018 to 61% in February 2019 and from 68% in March 2018 to 72% in March 2019. On the other hand, the months with the highest activity have stagnating or declining...
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