View source for Tourism in Austria

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[[File:Belvedere Vienna June 2006 010.jpg|thumb|260px|[[Belvedere, Vienna|Belvedere Palace]], [[Vienna]], one of Austria's most iconic monuments]]
[[Tourism]] forms an important part of the [[economy of Austria]], accounting for almost 9% of the Austrian [[gross domestic product]].<ref name="STAT">{{cite web |url=http://www.statistik.at/web_de/static/tourismus_in_oesterreich_2007_bmwa_wko_stat_031155.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081218105425/http://www.statistik.at/web_de/static/tourismus_in_oesterreich_2007_bmwa_wko_stat_031155.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-12-18 |title=TOURISMUS IN ÖSTERREICH 2007 |access-date=2008-11-18 |language=de |date=May 2008 |format=PDF |publisher=BMWA, WKO, Statistik Austria }}</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>{{cite journal |last=Norden |first=Gilbert|date=Spring 2001 |title=Austrian Sport Museums |url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH2001/JSH2801/JSH2801h.pdf |journal=Journal of Sport History |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=87–107|access-date=3 January 2017 }}</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 [[World Tourism rankings|international tourist arrivals]], Austria ranked 12th with 30.8 million tourists.<ref name="UNTWO">{{cite web |url=http://www.tourismroi.com/Content_Attachments/27670/File_633513750035785076.pdf |title=UNTWO World Tourism Barometer, Vol.6 No.2 |access-date=2008-11-18 |publisher=UNTWO |date=June 2008 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819191518/http://www.tourismroi.com/Content_Attachments/27670/File_633513750035785076.pdf |archive-date=2008-08-19 }}</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"/>
[[File:Hallstatt - Zentrum .JPG|thumb|Hallstatt, one of the most visited places in Austria]]
Visits to [[Austria]] mostly include trips to [[Vienna]] with [[St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna|its cathedral]], its "Heurigen" (wine pubs) and romantic Waltz music events. Worth a visit are [[Salzburg]], birthplace of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Innsbruck]], capital of [[Tyrol (state)|Tyrol]] surrounded by the [[Alps]], [[Linz]], capital of [[Upper Austria]] with the [[New Cathedral, Linz|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 an der Donau|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>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nurido.at/news/reisen/oesterreichsehenswuerdigkeitenstaedtegemeinden0912901.php |title=Die wichtigsten Sehenswürdigkeiten in Österreich |access-date=2010-05-07 |archive-date=2009-05-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530115938/http://www.nurido.at/news/reisen/oesterreichsehenswuerdigkeitenstaedtegemeinden0912901.php |url-status=dead }}</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>{{Cite news |date=2023-08-27 |title=Hallstatt: Austrian town protests against mass tourism |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66634889 |access-date=2025-07-13 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== Sports and nature ==
[[File:Sonnenkopf Ski Arlberg (203037193).jpeg|thumb|Ski Arlberg in Vorarlberg and Tyrol ]]
Of great touristic importance are the Austrian [[skiing]], [[hiking]] and [[mountaineering]] resorts in the [[Alps]] as well as family-friendly recreation areas and [[Spa|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 (state)|Carinthia]]) and castles. Stretching over [[Vorarlberg]] and [[Tyrol (state)|Tyrol]], [[Ski Arlberg]] is the largest connected ski area in Austria and one of five largest ski areas in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.skiarlberg.at/de|title=Die Wiege des alpinen Skilaufs|last=West|first=Ski Arlberg, Pool|website=Ski Arlberg, Pool West|language=de|access-date=2019-09-16}}</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>{{Cite web|url=https://ars.electronica.art/news/en/|title=Ars Electronica|website=Ars Electronica|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-16}}</ref>

== Internationally known annual events ==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Name
!Location
!Date
!Description
|-
|[[Vienna New Year's Concert]]
|[[Vienna]]
|1 January
|Traditional concert for classical music
|-
|[[Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel|Hahnenkamm race]]
|[[Kitzbühel]], [[Tyrol (state)|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 an der Donau|Tulln]], [[Lower Austria]]
|End of August
|[[Horticulture]] trade fair, Europe's biggest flower show
|-
|[[Ars Electronica|Ars Electronica Festival]]
|[[Linz]], [[Upper Austria]]
|September
|Festival devoted to technology and new media art including workshops, discussions and lectures
|-
|[[Vienna International Film Festival|Viennale]]
|[[Vienna]]
|October
|Film festival
|}

==Arrivals==
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 bar:January text:January
 bar:February text:February
 bar:March text:March
 bar:April text:April
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 bar:August text:August
 bar:September text:September
 bar:October text:October
 bar:November text:November
 bar:December text:December

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 bar:January from:start till:3.74 text:
 bar:February from:start till:4.27 text:
 bar:March from:start till:3.85 text:
 bar:April from:start till:2.36 text:
 bar:May from:start till:3.53 text:
 bar:June from:start till:4.1 text:
 bar:July from:start till:5.57 text:
 bar:August from:start till:6.11 text:
 bar:September from:start till:3.81 text:
 bar:October from:start till:2.03 text:
 bar:November from:start till:1.27 text:
 bar:December from:start till:2.92 text:

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 pos:(50,37) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Tourist arrivals in 2024 (millions)
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 pos:(50,3) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Statistics Austria
</timeline></div>
{| cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" style="border:solid 1px #aaa"
|+'''Yearly tourist arrivals in millions<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 17, 2024 |title=Austria: International tourist trips |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/international-tourist-trips?tab=chart&country=~AUT |website=Our World In Data}}</ref><ref name="Barom May24">{{cite web |date=May 2024 |title=World Tourism Barometer |url=https://pre-webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2024-06/Barom_PPT_May_2024.pdf?VersionId=U7O62HatlG4eNAj.wcmuQG1PMCjK.Yss |access-date=24 June 2024 |publisher=[[World Tourism Organization]] |language=en |p=19}}</ref>'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global and regional tourism performance |url=https://www.unwto.org/tourism-data/global-and-regional-tourism-performance |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=www.unwto.org}}</ref>
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  bar:96 from:start till:17.1
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  bar:98 from:start till:17.4
  bar:99 from:start till:17.5
  bar:00 from:start till:18
  bar:01 from:start till:18.2
  bar:02 from:start till:18.7
  bar:03 from:start till:19.1
  bar:04 from:start till:19.4
  bar:05 from:start till:20
  bar:06 from:start till:20.3
  bar:07 from:start till:20.8
  bar:08 from:start till:21.9
  bar:09 from:start till:21.4
  bar:10 from:start till:22
  bar:11 from:start till:23
  bar:12 from:start till:24.2
 bar:13 from:start till:24.8
 bar:14 from:start till:25.3
 bar:15 from:start till:26.7
 bar:16 from:start till:28.1
 bar:17 from:start till:29.5
 bar:18 from:start till:30.8
 bar:19 from:start till:31.9
 bar:20 from:start till:15.1
 bar:21 from:start till:12.7
 bar:22 from:start till:26.2
 bar:23 from:start till:30.9
 bar:24 from:start till:32.2
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Most visitors arriving to Austria on short term basis are from the following countries of nationality:<ref>[https://www.statistik.at/en/statistics/tourism-and-transport/tourism/accommodation/arrivals-overnight-stays Tourism in Austria 2024]</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|- style="color:white;"
!  style="width:5px"|Rank
!  style="width:130px"| Country
!  style="width:50px"| 2014
!  style="width:50px"| 2015
!  style="width:50px"| 2024
|- 
|1||{{flagcountry|Germany}}|| 11,750,027 || 12,134,836
|14,913,898
|-
|2||{{flagcountry|Netherlands}}|| 1,671,581 || 1,734,453
|2,233,855
|-
|3||{{flagcountry|Switzerland}}|| 1,309,660 || 1,400,251
|1,354,358
|-
|4||{{flagcountry|France}} ||  1,016,770 || 1,075,708
|1,249,468
|-
|5||{{flagcountry|Italy}}|| 1,051,490 || 1,122,936
|1,059,801
|-
|6||{{Nowrap begin}}{{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}{{nowrap end}} || 802,552 || 875,664
|920,023
|-
|7||{{flagcountry|China}} || 497,925 || 715,119
|374,130
|-
|8||{{flagcountry|Czech Republic}} || 660,086 || 711,351
|1,184,156
|-
|9||{{flagcountry|United States}} ||  632,512 || 708,233
|942,595
|-
|10||{{flagcountry|Belgium}} || 514,264 || 514,329
|620,105
|- 
|11||{{flagcountry|Hungary}}|| 493,055 || 501,595
|670,020
|-
|12||{{flagcountry|Poland}}|| 425,730 || 456,615
|830,416
|-
|13||{{flagcountry|Spain}}|| 309,794 || 348,768
|398,634
|-
|14||{{flagcountry|Denmark}}|| 264,704 || 331,507
|390,956
|-
|15||{{flagcountry|Russia}}|| 467,565 || 313,406
|52,728
|-
|16||{{flagcountry|South Korea}}|| 234,557 || 277,032
|226,055
|-
|17||{{flagcountry|Romania}}|| 264,704 || 275,806
|375,826
|-
|18||{{flagcountry|Japan}} || 245,306 || 236,621
|101,475
|-
|19||{{flagcountry|Sweden}} || 205,501 || 224,258
|225,720
|-
|20||{{flagcountry|Slovakia}}|| 176,760 || 194,186
|301,559
|-
! colspan=2| 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>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vorarlberg.travel/en/|title=Holidays in Vorarlberg Austria - Official Travel Guide & Tourist Information|website=Urlaub in Vorarlberg|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-16}}</ref>

== Notes and references ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Austria}}
* [http://www.austria.info/us Official Website of the Austrian National Tourist Office]
* {{commons category-inline|Tourism in Austria}}
{{Austria topics}}
{{Tourism in Europe}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tourism In Austria}}
[[Category:Tourism in Austria| ]]
[[Category:Tourism in Europe by country|Austria]]