Despite The Challenges, The Winter Season Can Be A Success - Current Winter Potential Study By The Austrian Tourist Board
Despite a challenging environment, people long for winter holidays. This is shown by the current winter potential study by the Austrian Tourist Board: there is enough desire and time for a winter holiday. State Secretary Susanne Kraus-Winkler and Managing Director of the Austrian Tourist Board Lisa Weddig ventured a cautiously optimistic view of the coming winter season.
During a press conference, the State Secretary for Tourism, Susanne Kraus-Winkler, and the Managing Director of the Austrian Tourist Board, Lisa Weddig, addressed the current status quo of the tourism industry and the potential for the 2022/23 winter tourist season. One thing became clear: The industry was able to celebrate a comeback this summer, people are longing for winter holidays, international guests are very interested in Austria and Corona no longer plays a major role in the intention to book.
Kraus-Winkler: Tourism catching up despite major challenges
"Despite the difficult Corona years and the current challenges, domestic tourism is still catching up and can almost build on the pre-crisis level. This clearly shows that tourism has used the crisis as an opportunity to reposition itself and that it is showing great resilience," said Secretary of State for Tourism Kraus-Winkler.
After two Corona years with drastic losses, the development of tourism in Austria in 2022 has been largely positive to date. With 58 million overnight stays (May to August 2022), the previous summer season was just below the comparable period in the pre-crisis year 2019. However, the framework conditions remain challenging and tourism is struggling with enormous increases in energy prices and the increased need for employees. As of September, 221,213 employees were registered in tourism. There were 12,936 vacancies in September, and at the same time as the summer season ended in September 2022, twice as many people were registered as unemployed (25,929 without training participants).
Kraus-Winkler emphasizes: "All those involved in and around tourism in Austria - from business, interest groups to politics - are called upon to meet the challenges with constructive solutions. Tourism is and remains an important pillar of the local economy, brings added value to the regions and creates sustainable jobs. I am all the more pleased that the forecast for the upcoming winter season is also positive. It is now important to take this optimistic mood with you and to give everyone the security, especially with regard to the winter offer.”
In connection with the current discussion about energy consumption, it should be noted that tourism (including snowmaking and cable cars) is responsible for only 1.55 percent of Austria's total energy consumption. “The tourism industry has been striving to reduce energy consumption for decades. For example, energy consumption per overnight stay in accommodation has been reduced by 54 percent since 2008, and winter tourism accounts for 0.9 percent of total energy consumption,” says Kraus-Winkler.
ÖW Winter Potential Study 2022/2023: desire and time for vacation available, vacation in Austria popular
The Austrian Tourist Board has carried out a potential study in the most important winter markets for the coming winter in order to obtain fact-based decision-making bases for its activities and those of the industry. The current winter potential study, which was carried out in ten markets by the Institute for Tourism and Pool Research in Northern Europe (NIT), allows a thoroughly optimistic outlook for the coming winter season.
“There is enough desire and time for a winter holiday in all the markets surveyed. The holiday mood has improved in most markets compared to last winter season. It can be assumed that the current global economic situation, which is characterized by high inflation, is having an impact on booking behavior. At the same time, the majority of respondents expect their own economic situation to remain the same or improve. The number of permanent Austria planners, i.e. those people who are most likely planning a winter holiday in Austria, is back to the pre-Corona level at 17 million. From today's perspective, we can therefore expect a good winter," says Lisa Weddig, Managing Director of Österreich Werbung.
According to the study, Austria is one of the top destinations in the markets surveyed next winter. Austria is among the top 3 in most markets. “The work of the industry confirms that we are so well placed despite the almost global travel opportunities again. In addition, the demand for winter sports holidays and winter holidays in the snow has remained stable compared to last winter and the popularity has even increased in some relevant markets. Austria therefore has the right offers for the coming winter,” Weddig continued.
A third of winter travel planners are also willing to spend more next winter than last year. Those potential vacationers who are going to limit their vacation spending will do so primarily on accommodation, destination and length of vacation trip. “We also know from the study that winter travel planners will pay attention to cheaper travel, hygiene and familiarity with the holiday region in the coming winter. Austria has just the right offers for these needs. On the one hand, there are holiday opportunities for every budget in Austria and on the other hand, we showed last winter that a safe holiday is possible with us,” emphasizes Weddig. The study also shows the loss of importance of the corona pandemic when booking:
Winter activities of the Austrian Tourist Board: Experience real winter love
In order to activate the clearly recognizable potential for winter holidays in the relevant markets, Österreich Werbung supports the industry with targeted communication. For the coming winter, Österreich Werbung, together with 58 partners from all over Austria, has launched activities in 11 markets. A campaign has been running since September 2022 under the name "Winterliebe - Experience it for real now" in Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Poland.
“Our goal was to translate last winter's successful campaign for this year. That's why we combined them with our campaign umbrella from 2022 #realAustria to convey real experiences in the snow together with family and friends. It was also our explicit goal to bring the whole diversity of Austrian winter tourism to the fore,” says Weddig, summarizing the campaign content. The ÖW's market activities for the coming winter will be implemented using a broad marketing mix. This includes a high-reach video campaign in all eleven markets, TV spots, print partnerships and a media offensive.
To the study
The survey for the "Winter Potentials 2022/2023" study was conducted online from September 2nd to 11th, 2022 by the Institute for Tourism and Pool Research in Northern Europe (NIT) among people aged 18 to 75. Interviews were conducted in Austria (1,049 people), Germany (1,046 people), Switzerland (1,049 people), the Netherlands (1,046 people), Belgium (1,050 people), Denmark (1,051 people), the United Kingdom (1,045 people), and the Czech Republic (1,050 people). ), Poland (1,047 people) and Hungary (1,046 people).
The Austrian Tourist Board, as the client, makes the results available to local tourism free of charge. Austrian tourism professionals can request the "Winter Potential 2022/2023" study here: https://bit.ly/3TiGdvc
