Salzburg Tourism Starts The Winter With Optimism
After an excellent summer season with a record number of 13.8 million overnight stays, Salzburg's tourist industry is starting the winter with optimism.
Winter arrives just in time for the start of the season and, with natural snow and the corresponding cold, ensures optimal conditions in the Salzburg winter sports regions. The tourism industry is correspondingly optimistic, wanting to get the season off to a good start despite inflation.
“In the past few weeks we have been intensively on the road in our most important home markets and have noticed a very positive atmosphere. This impression is underpinned by the very good booking situation at the moment - both in the city of Salzburg and in the winter sports regions. It is evident that people have a great need for winter and skiing holidays, and we expect catch-up effects from the past few years," explains Leo Bauernberger, Managing Director of the SalzburgerLand Tourismus Gesellschaft (SLTG).
This is also confirmed by Thomas Wirnsperger, Managing Director of the Grossarltal Tourist Association: “The booking situation for the coming winter season is promising. The establishments are consistently very well booked. There are still gaps in demand mainly in January, the booking situation for February is very good again. The start of the winter season with the Salzburg Mountain Advent in Grossarltal and the start of skiing on the Grossarltal-Dorfgastein ski area went well.”
Even the higher prices for ski passes don't seem to curb people's desire to ski. In Salzburg's largest ski association "Ski Amadé", the season ticket in advance cost 9% more than last season. Nevertheless, advance sales were able to build on the record years before the pandemic. “We need the increased price to be able to cover our costs. There's no other way," says Veronika Scheffer from Bergbahnen Zauchensee.
Demand for January still subdued
The mood in the state capital is somewhat more reserved. “The utilization looks good until after New Year's Eve and the à la carte business is also going well. People are longing to go outside again and enjoy it. We're slowly getting back to normal booking behavior," explains specialist group chairman Georg Imlauer. For the time after New Year's Eve, however, booking behavior is cautious. “That worries us. Inquiries about events are coming again, but people and companies are very cautious. Also due to the current uncertain situation regarding energy and prices.
Martina Trummer from Tourismus Salzburg GmbH can report something similar: “The Advent weekends are generally fully booked, during the week there are still a few rooms. Some hotels are even saying that they will reach or even surpass the level of 2019. Looking ahead to the public holidays and New Year's Eve shows that New Year's Eve is almost fully booked - regardless of whether it's a budget hotel or a 5-star hotel." Bookings for January are still sluggish, which according to Trummer is also due to the increasingly short-term bookings.
“Hospitality, quality and safety are important factors when choosing a holiday destination. Salzburg guarantees all of these aspects. Family-run businesses and beautiful nature complete our unique offer. Numerous guests from near and far will also be able to convince themselves of this this winter and, after an excellent summer, will also ensure a good winter season," sums up tourism officer Dr. Wilfried Haslauer.
