Tourism suffered

For whom soccer euphoria became a spoilsport

Cycling tourists postponed their vacations in June due to the weather and flooding, and the European Football Championship put a damper on the desire to travel to Austria.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/www.picturedesk.com WGD Donau Oberösterreich Tourismus)

With more than 21 million overnight stays in May and June combined, Austria's tourism industry is celebrating its best summer start since data collection began. Nevertheless, this belies the fact that June fell short of expectations. In addition to the weather, the European Football Championship was the main spoilsport here.

Fewer locals traveled, and guests from abroad also missed out - this combination resulted in a drop in overnight stays in Austria in June: 11.68 million overnight stays meant a decline of 6.8% compared to June 2023. "This is certainly also due to the fact that the Whitsun vacations in large German federal states fell entirely in May this year and none of the public holiday weekends fell in June," says Tobias Thomas from Statistics Austria.

Tourism as a whole was extremely affected by the European Football Championship. Added to this was the weather in June, which was very mixed.

Petra Riffert, Donau Oberösterreich Tourismus

Bild: Sabine Starmayr

How did Upper Austria compare in June? There was even a slight increase of 1.1% - a total of 902,500 overnight stays were counted. Along the Danube, however, the mixed weather and flooding had a negative impact.

Fewer Germans

Compared to June 2023, 17.2% fewer guests from Germany were recorded in June 2024. A total of 4.23 million overnight stays were recorded across Austria in June, which were attributable to travelers from Germany.

Cycling trips were postponed
"June was difficult," says Petra Riffert. The Managing Director of Werbegemeinschaft Donau Oberösterreich Tourismus also reveals: "Some cyclists postponed their stays and arrived later."

The European Football Championship in Germany and the resulting euphoria also cost holidaymakers. "The Germans are such soccer fans that they don't go away during a tournament like this," says Riffert. For the Austrians, the European Championship effect was noticeable until the ÖFB team was knocked out of the competition.