“We are still a long way from normality,” said Lisa Weddig, Managing Director of Österreich Werbung, today, Thursday, at an online press conference in Vienna. In an international comparison, Austria is coming through the crisis far better than other countries. For example, global guest arrivals were 72 percent below that of the pre-crisis year 2019. According to Weddig, however, the drop in foreign guests was less severe in Austria. The number of booked overnight stays fell by an average of 48 percent to 80 million compared to 2019. Particularly affected: the city hotel industry and the congress industry.
The crisis summers have gone much better so far thanks to the holiday hotels: “If we look at the last two years, we were significantly stronger than the global average in both summers – August 2021 was the best August of all time with 20.8 million overnight stays,” said Weddig. Nevertheless, the recurring lockdowns pushed the overall result clearly into the red. Despite the weak January, an “upward trend” can be seen for the current winter season. Because according to a recent survey by the Austrian Tourist Board, our German neighbors in particular want to vacation in Austria. 54 percent of those surveyed are planning a vacation, for 43 percent Austria would be an option as a travel destination. “People interested in winter vacations in Austria want and will come if this is possible,” said Weddig. If no new travel restrictions come, there would be potential for the rest of the winter. We hope for short-term bookings.
20 million for communication measures
The ongoing failure of the long-distance markets means that city tourism and the conference industry are recording the greatest losses due to the pandemic. “The recovery of tourism is not a short-term project, but will keep us busy for years to come,” said Weddig. The signs are good for the coming summer: “We are already seeing the increasing number of booking requests,” she added. That’s why the Austrian advertising agency is planning to spend 20 million euros on communication measures relating to summer, cities and conventions. The latter includes the Tourism Days 2022, the further development of innovation projects and the establishment of a collaborative innovation platform for the industry and other sectors.
The focus remains on the high-potential local markets. “The competitive pressure from the competition is still high and that is why it is so essential for us to be present in our important home markets. This is also made possible by the federal government’s budget increase of four million euros for this year and six million euros from next year,” says Weddig. According to Weddig, the situation in long-distance markets such as the USA or Asia is constantly being monitored, and if demand picks up, communication will be ramped up at short notice
Source: Nachrichten
