Positive Views On Tourism In Austria - 45% Perceive The Impact Of Tourism On Their Place Of Residence As Positive
A large portion of the Austrian population perceives the impact of tourism on their place of residence as positive. However, as Statistics Austria's tourism acceptance survey, conducted for the first time in 2024, shows, domestic tourism is assessed differently depending on the region and season.
For 45% of the Austrian population, tourism has a positive impact on their place of residence, while 7% rate the impact of tourism as negative. Almost two-thirds of the Austrian population also consider the number of tourists to be appropriate both for Austria as a whole and for their own place of residence, while 6% consider the number of visitors in their own place of residence to be too high. In general, the perception of tourism varies significantly by region and season, according to Statistics Austria's conclusion when presenting the results of its first tourism acceptance survey.
In 2024, 45% of the Austrian population aged 15 and over perceived the effects of tourism on their place of residence as predominantly positive or rather positive, compared to 7% who perceived them as rather negative or predominantly negative. 47% viewed them neutrally or had no opinion ("don't know"). The perceived effects of tourism on their place of residence form the basis for calculating the Tourism Acceptance Balance (TAS) for Austria. For this purpose, the perceived effects of tourism on the place of residence were aggregated nationwide, and the positive effects were compared with the negative ones. The Tourism Acceptance Balance is thus the difference between positive and negative perceptions and was clearly positive in 2024 at +38 percentage points. A positive TAS means that the proportion of the population with a positive attitude predominates. "Neutral" and "don't know" answers are not taken into account in the calculation of the TAS, but are important for the interpretation of the TAS, as they significantly influence the potential level of the TAS.
A comparison of the tourism acceptance balances of the individual federal states reveals different regional perceptions. The TAS value was disproportionately high for Vienna (+48 percentage points), Carinthia (+43 percentage points), Styria (+41 percentage points), Salzburg (+40 percentage points), and Vorarlberg (+39 percentage points), while in Burgenland (+38 percentage points), the tourism acceptance balance was equal to the national TAS. This indicates that the population of these federal states views the effects of tourism (on balance) more positively than the general population. In Upper and Lower Austria (+32 and +30 percentage points, respectively) and Tyrol (+36 percentage points), however, skepticism regarding the effects of tourism in 2024 was somewhat more pronounced than the national average, and the proportion of the population with a neutral attitude or no opinion on the effects of tourism was also higher (see Table 1).
Those who perceived the impact of tourism as "predominantly positive" (19%) or "predominantly negative" (2%) were also asked about the reasons for this assessment. The main reasons for a predominantly positive perception include strengthening the economy, creating jobs, revitalizing the community, and promoting cultural exchange. Conversely, tourism is perceived negatively mainly due to increased traffic volume, the (excessive) number of guests, or the price increases associated with higher demand.
The importance of tourism is considered higher for Austria than for one’s own place of residence
In 2024, a total of four out of ten (40%) residents of Austria stated that tourism is of great importance for the economy, the labor market, and leisure activities in their place of residence. For Austria as a whole, the proportion of the population who consider tourism to be of great importance for these areas is just under three-quarters (73%).
The perceived importance of tourism for one's place of residence is also significantly correlated with the perceived professional or financial dependence on tourism. In 2024, 5% of the Austrian population considered tourism to be very important for their own professional or financial situation, and another 7% considered it to be very important. This showed that the higher the assessment of the importance of tourism for one's professional or financial situation, the more positive the assessment of the importance of tourism locally (at one's place of residence).
Another indicator of the population's acceptance of tourism is the perception of the number of tourists in their own place of residence and in Austria as a whole. In 2024, 65% of the Austrian population stated that they considered the number of visitors both in their place of residence and nationwide to be "appropriate." 15% of the population perceived the number of tourists in their own municipality as "rather high," and 6% as "too high."
The perceived volume of tourism varies considerably among the Austrian federal states. For example, the perception of "too many" guests ranges from 1% in Lower Austria to 15% in Salzburg; the range for a perceived "rather high" volume ranged from 4% (again in Lower Austria) to 35% in Vienna (see Table 2).
The seasonality of perceptions also varies across the federal states. In Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Carinthia, and Burgenland, summer was most frequently cited as the season with "too many" or "rather many" tourists. While this was also true for Salzburg, more than a third of respondents there also reported excessive or rather high tourist volumes year-round or in winter. In Styria, in addition to summer (45%), a quarter of respondents also cited autumn as the season with "rather many" or "too many" tourists, while autumn was mentioned less frequently in most other federal states (3% to 20%). In Tyrol and Vorarlberg, half of the respondents perceived winter as the season with "too many" or "rather many" tourists, with an equally high proportion citing summer in this regard in Vorarlberg. In Vienna, half of the respondents perceived tourist volumes as too high or rather high year-round.
More here
