Tourism in Austria
Tourism forms an important part of the economy of Austria, accounting for almost 9% of the Austrian gross domestic product.<ref name="STAT">Template:Cite web</ref> Austria has one guest bed for every six inhabitants, and boasts the highest per capita income from tourism in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> As of 2024, the total number of tourist overnight stays during the summer season is continuing to outnumber the overnight stays in the winter season. Peaks are in February and July/August.<ref name="STAT"/>
In 2007, Austria ranked 9th worldwide in international tourism receipts, with 18.9 billion US$.<ref name="UNTWO"/> In international tourist arrivals, Austria ranked 12th with 30.8 million tourists.<ref name="UNTWO">Template:Cite web</ref>
Most visited areas
Vienna attracts a major part of tourists, both in summer and winter.<ref name="STAT"/> Salzburg receives about a fifth of tourist overnight stays compared to Vienna, which ranks it 2nd in the summer season.<ref name="STAT"/> In the winter season, a number of winter sport resorts in western Austria overtake Salzburg in the number of tourist overnight stays: Sölden, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Ischgl, Sankt Anton am Arlberg, and Obertauern.<ref name="STAT"/>
Visits to Austria mostly include trips to Vienna with its cathedral, its "Heurigen" (wine pubs) and romantic Waltz music events. Worth a visit are Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart, Innsbruck, capital of Tyrol surrounded by the Alps, Linz, capital of Upper Austria with the largest Cathedral of Austria and modern cultural highlights, and the Danube valley with its vineyards, for example the Wachau or Dunkelsteinerwald, which are between Melk and Krems. In the western part of the country the province Vorarlberg reaches the Lake Constance, in the eastern part Neusiedler See. The three most visited landmarks in Austria are Schönbrunn Palace (2,590,000 visitors per year), Tiergarten Schönbrunn (2,453,987 visitors) and Mariazell Basilica (1,500,000 visitors).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The small town of Hallstatt is drawing in roughly a million visitors per year and is often named as a negative example of Instagram tourism.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Sports and nature
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Of great touristic importance are the Austrian skiing, hiking and mountaineering resorts in the Alps as well as family-friendly recreation areas and thermal spas. The same applies to the numerous Austrian lakes (e.g. Wolfgangsee and other lakes in the Salzkammergut east of Salzburg or Wörthersee in Carinthia) and castles. Stretching over Vorarlberg and Tyrol, Ski Arlberg is the largest connected ski area in Austria and one of five largest ski areas in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Art and culture
For visitors interested in media art, there is the Ars Electronica Center in Linz. Since 1979 this center has organized the Ars Electronica Festival and presented the Prix Ars Electronica, the worldwide highest-ranked prize for media art.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Internationally known annual events
| Name | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vienna New Year's Concert | Vienna | 1 January | Traditional concert for classical music |
| Hahnenkamm race | Kitzbühel, Tyrol | January | Ski race |
| Vienna Opera Ball | Vienna | Thursday preceding Ash Wednesday | Ball |
| Life Ball | Vienna | June | HIV and AIDS awareness event |
| Donauinselfest | Vienna | End of June | Biggest open air music festival in the world, free entry |
| Bregenzer Festspiele | Bregenz, Vorarlberg | July/August | Opera festival |
| Salzburg Festival | Salzburg | July/August | Opera festival |
| FM4 Frequency Festival | Sankt Pölten | August | Alternative rock, electronica and hip hop festival |
| Internationale Gartenbaumesse Tulln | Tulln, Lower Austria | End of August | Horticulture trade fair, Europe's biggest flower show |
| Ars Electronica Festival | Linz, Upper Austria | September | Festival devoted to technology and new media art including workshops, discussions and lectures |
| Viennale | Vienna | October | Film festival |
Arrivals
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Most visitors arriving to Austria on short term basis are from the following countries of nationality:<ref>Tourism in Austria 2024</ref>
| Rank | Country | 2014 | 2015 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template:Flagcountry | 11,750,027 | 12,134,836 | 14,913,898 |
| 2 | Template:Flagcountry | 1,671,581 | 1,734,453 | 2,233,855 |
| 3 | Template:Flagcountry | 1,309,660 | 1,400,251 | 1,354,358 |
| 4 | Template:Flagcountry | 1,016,770 | 1,075,708 | 1,249,468 |
| 5 | Template:Flagcountry | 1,051,490 | 1,122,936 | 1,059,801 |
| 6 | Template:Nowrap beginTemplate:FlagcountryTemplate:Nowrap end | 802,552 | 875,664 | 920,023 |
| 7 | Template:Flagcountry | 497,925 | 715,119 | 374,130 |
| 8 | Template:Flagcountry | 660,086 | 711,351 | 1,184,156 |
| 9 | Template:Flagcountry | 632,512 | 708,233 | 942,595 |
| 10 | Template:Flagcountry | 514,264 | 514,329 | 620,105 |
| 11 | Template:Flagcountry | 493,055 | 501,595 | 670,020 |
| 12 | Template:Flagcountry | 425,730 | 456,615 | 830,416 |
| 13 | Template:Flagcountry | 309,794 | 348,768 | 398,634 |
| 14 | Template:Flagcountry | 264,704 | 331,507 | 390,956 |
| 15 | Template:Flagcountry | 467,565 | 313,406 | 52,728 |
| 16 | Template:Flagcountry | 234,557 | 277,032 | 226,055 |
| 17 | Template:Flagcountry | 264,704 | 275,806 | 375,826 |
| 18 | Template:Flagcountry | 245,306 | 236,621 | 101,475 |
| 19 | Template:Flagcountry | 205,501 | 224,258 | 225,720 |
| 20 | Template:Flagcountry | 176,760 | 194,186 | 301,559 |
| Total foreign | 25,291,371 | 26,718,945 | 31,903,467 | |
Slogans of the provinces
- Burgenland – The sunny side of Austria
- Carinthia – The joy of living
- Lower Austria – Feel alive!
- Upper Austria – ?
- Salzburg – Stage of the World
- Styria – The Green Heart of Austria
- Tyrol – Heart of the Alps
- Vienna – Now. Forever.
- Vorarlberg – Poetry in Nature<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>