This is illustrated by the provisional data from Statistics Austria. Accordingly, overnight stays fell again by almost 19 percent compared to 2020 to 79.57 million. That was 48 percent less than the year before the pandemic (2019). This means that the industry has fallen behind by around 50 years: in 1970, 79.52 million guests booked into the guesthouses, hotels and holiday apartments.
According to the statisticians, as a result of international travel restrictions, quarantine regulations and lockdowns, the number of arrivals fell by 11.5 percent compared to 2020 to 22.15 million. The drop in foreign guests was naturally greater, at 15.6 percent to 12.73 million, than among domestic guests, who reported a drop of 5.3 percent to 9.42 million.
closures and travel restrictions
“Corona-related company closures and international travel restrictions have had a severe impact on tourism in Austria in 2021,” summarized Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas on Wednesday. The overall decline is mainly due to the months of plant closures – from January to May and in November 2021. During these periods, 85.6 percent fewer nights were spent – only business trips and spa stays were allowed, otherwise an official ban on entry applied to the accommodation facilities. In the remaining period without company closures – June to October and December – bookings fell by 16.8 percent compared to the first Corona year 2020.
The tourism-heavy federal states in western and southern Austria suffered the most significant slump in 2021. In Tyrol, booked nights fell by 29 percent to 23.6 million, in Salzburg by 31 percent to 14 million and in Vorarlberg by 28 percent to 4.6 million. In Carinthia, the drop was 8 percent to 10.2 million overnight stays and in Styria 11 percent to 9 million.
Almost minus 50 percent of overnight stays
Compared to the first Corona year 2020, on the other hand, Burgenland has recovered with an increase in tourist overnight stays of 10 percent to 2.5 million, Vienna with an increase of 9 percent to 5 million – albeit from a low level – and Lower Austria, at the same time with the federal capital, and Upper Austria with an increase of 5 percent to 5.7 million.
Compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic, Vienna still had 72 percent fewer overnight stays. In Salzburg (minus 53.4 percent), Tyrol (minus 52.7 percent) and Vorarlberg (minus 50.2 percent), the number of overnight stays was above the Austrian average of minus 47.9 percent. The lowest losses were registered in Burgenland (minus 20.3 percent) and in Carinthia (minus 23.5 percent).
Source: Nachrichten
