Tyrol's Tourism Is Developing Positively

Holidays in Tyrol are in demand. The summer season, which ends in October, developed positively compared to the previous year in terms of arrivals and overnight stays despite challenging conditions. According to initial calculations, the value added has also increased. Given the booking situation, there is optimism for the winter.

This year's summer season ends on October 31st; the figures are currently available for five out of six months - May to September. They show an increase compared to the previous year: guest arrivals in Tyrol grew by 5.9 percent to 5.7 million, overnight stays by 1.6 percent to 20.5 million. This is the highest value since 1993. At that time, 20.7 million overnight stays were counted between May and September. There was a slight decrease in the average length of stay. It fell by 0.2 days to 3.6 days compared to the previous year and is therefore at the level of 2019 (before Corona).

Increased added value

“However, economic development is much more important than the quantitative result. “I am therefore pleased that, according to an initial calculation by MCI Tourism, the added value in the summer season amounts to 2.41 billion euros,” sums up Tyrol’s Tourism Provincial Councilor Mario Gerber. Adjusted for inflation, this is 1.9 percent more than last summer and 3.2 percent more than in summer 2019 (before the pandemic). This result is also reflected in the seasonal tourism barometer, a representative survey of Tyrolean accommodation providers: 59 percent are satisfied with the economic success of the current summer season, 27 percent are even very satisfied. Gerber notes that this cannot be taken for granted given the rise in prices and the renewed competition with long-distance travel and the like.

“The economic strength and the high level of appeal of Tyrolean summer tourism should be seen on the one hand as confirmation of the high quality of the offering and on the other hand as evidence of the good work of the industry,” said the state council. This is also shown by a current evaluation by Tirol Advertising, for which more than 20,000 guest reviews on online platforms were analyzed using artificial intelligence. 84 percent of these were positive, 13 percent negative, three percent neutral.

Source market Germany forms the foundation

The source market of Germany once again remains the mainstay of Tyrolean tourism in the summer season so far. With 11.9 million overnight stays, there was a slight decrease of 0.2 percent, but at the same time 58 percent of all overnight stays came from German guests. Overnight stays by Austrians also fell slightly by 0.7 percent to 2.0 million. There was slight growth in the Netherlands, the third most important market: 1.7 million overnight stays represent an increase of 0.7 percent. “What is remarkable in this context is the development of Tyrolean guests, who particularly appreciate the quality of the tourist infrastructure in their homeland,” reports the managing director of Tirol Werbe, Karin Seiler. “Tyrol is now the most important region of origin among the Austrian federal states and, with almost 400,000 overnight stays so far this summer, is even ahead of markets such as France (364,000) or Great Britain (301,000).

Equalize seasons, promote year-round tourism

“In addition, the current tourism statistics show that the development promoted in the Tyrolean Way tourism strategy towards balanced year-round tourism and an equalization of the seasons is bearing fruit,” summarizes Seiler. Off-peak tourist times have increased: In early summer 2023 (May and June) there were 5.0 million overnight stays, an increase of 6.1 percent compared to the same period last year, and with 3.6 million overnight stays in September, an increase of 3.0 percent.

Challenges for companies

As far as the companies are concerned, according to Franz Staggl, chairman of the hotel industry specialist group in the Tyrol Chamber of Commerce, they have mastered the diverse challenges of this year's summer well. Nevertheless, the lack of sufficient employees is an ongoing issue. “In addition, the cost explosions in goods inputs, energy and wages are creating very big challenges. The tourism industry is disproportionately affected by inflation and must try to factor these massively increased costs into its prices. The balance between necessary price adjustments and guests’ willingness to pay is a tightrope act,” explains Staggl.

Good prospects for the winter

The Tyrolean tourism industry is confident for the coming winter season. “According to the tourism barometer, three quarters of the businesses have an equally good or even better booking situation than this time last year,” explains Tourism State Councilor Gerber. The greatest expectations here also rest on the German market: 85 percent of those surveyed see the booking situation for German guests as good or even better. The companies are also quite confident when it comes to economic expectations: 45 percent assume that they will be able to maintain the results from the previous year. 28 percent expect an increase in sales, around a fifth expect a loss in sales.

Specialist group chairman Staggl also shares this confidence: “The companies are looking to the future with optimism. We assume that the guest volume will not decline in the coming winter.” The challenge, however, remains that guests are much more cautious in their spending behavior, which can still be felt. “This also has an impact on the economic sectors downstream from tourism,” Staggl explains the importance of the tourism industry for regional value creation

Tirol Werbe is investing around six million euros in communication measures for the coming winter and is present, among other things, with an advertising campaign in eight European markets.

Sustainability remains the focus

In addition, the topic of sustainability remains the focus of tourism development in Tyrol, emphasizes Tirol Advertising Managing Director Seiler: “We are on a very good path here.” This is shown by the result of the annual sustainability comparison, the so-called GDS benchmark. For the third time in a row, Tyrol has landed in the top 15 regions out of a total of 100 destinations worldwide.
In line with this sustainable claim, Tirol Werbe continues to promote public travel and on-site mobility. “With success – the proportion of guests who arrive by train has already grown from five to seven percent,” says Seiler. “This is also where the greatest potential lies. After all, the arrival of guests is by far the biggest lever for reducing CO2 emissions."