Tourism in Austria

Tourism is very important in Austria. It helps the country’s economy a lot, making up almost 9% of its total money made each year. Austria has enough beds for visitors to match one out of every six people who live there. It even makes more money from visitors than many other countries in a big group called the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In 2007, Austria was ninth in the world for how much money it made from visitors from other countries, earning about 18.9 billion US dollars. That year, about 30.8 million people from other countries came to visit Austria, putting it twelfth in the world for the number of visitors.

Today, more people stay in Austria during the summer than in the winter. The most popular times for visitors are in February and the months of July and August.

Most visited areas

Vienna is a top destination for visitors to Austria, popular in both summer and winter. Salzburg is also very popular, getting about a fifth of the overnight stays that Vienna does during the summer. In winter, several winter sport resorts in western Austria, such as Sölden, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Ischgl, Sankt Anton am Arlberg, and Obertauern, become even busier than Salzburg.

People visiting Austria often go to Vienna to see its cathedral, enjoy wine pubs called "Heurigen," and listen to romantic Waltz music. Other great places to visit include Salzburg, where Mozart was born, Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol surrounded by the Alps, and Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, known for its big cathedral and modern culture. The Danube valley, with its beautiful vineyards like the Wachau and Dunkelsteinerwald between Melk and Krems, is also a favorite. In western Austria, Vorarlberg reaches Lake Constance, and in the east is Neusiedler See. Some of Austria's most visited spots are Schönbrunn Palace, Tiergarten Schönbrunn, and Mariazell Basilica. The small town of Hallstatt attracts about a million visitors each year.

Sports and nature

Austria is a wonderful place for tourists who love skiing, hiking, and mountaineering in the Alps. Families also enjoy visiting thermal spas and relaxing in beautiful lakes like Wolfgangsee in the Salzkammergut near Salzburg or Wörthersee in Carinthia. Ski Arlberg, which stretches across Vorarlberg and Tyrol, is the largest connected ski area in Austria and one of the five biggest in the world.

Art and culture

Visitors who enjoy media art can visit the Ars Electronica Center in Linz. Since 1979, this center has hosted the Ars Electronica Festival and awarded the Prix Ars Electronica, the most important prize for media art in the world.

Internationally known annual events

Arrivals

Most visitors who come to Austria for a short stay are from several different countries.

Rank	Country	2014	2015	2024
1	Germany	11,750,027	12,134,836	14,913,898
2	Netherlands	1,671,581	1,734,453	2,233,855
3	Switzerland	1,309,660	1,400,251	1,354,358
4	France	1,016,770	1,075,708	1,249,468
5	Italy	1,051,490	1,122,936	1,059,801
6	United Kingdom	802,552	875,664	920,023
7	China	497,925	715,119	374,130
8	Czech Republic	660,086	711,351	1,184,156
9	United States	632,512	708,233	942,595
10	Belgium	514,264	514,329	620,105
11	Hungary	493,055	501,595	670,020
12	Poland	425,730	456,615	830,416
13	Spain	309,794	348,768	398,634
14	Denmark	264,704	331,507	390,956
15	Russia	467,565	313,406	52,728
16	South Korea	234,557	277,032	226,055
17	Romania	264,704	275,806	375,826
18	Japan	245,306	236,621	101,475
19	Sweden	205,501	224,258	225,720
20	Slovakia	176,760	194,186	301,559
Total foreign		25,291,371	26,718,945	31,903,467

Slogans of the provinces

Each province in Austria has its own special slogan that describes what makes it unique.

• Burgenland – The sunny side of Austria
• Carinthia – The joy of living
• Lower Austria – Feel alive!
• Upper Austria – ?
• Salzburg – Stage of the World
• Styria – The Green Heart of Austria
• Tyrol – Heart of the Alps
• Vienna – Now. Forever.
• Vorarlberg – Poetry in Nature

Notes and references