Very slight minus

Tourism stable: fewer overnight stays, more guests

Summer visitors are becoming increasingly important for Tirol. In future, the aim is to attract more guests during off-peak periods.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

October 31st marked the end of this year's summer season for Tyrolean tourism. The balance sheet shows a slight decline, which is mainly due to the target markets within Europe.

In the past summer season, 6.4 million guests arrived in Tirol. This is an increase of 1.4%, but cannot hide the fact that the length of stay and thus the number of overnight stays fell slightly: By 0.3% to 22.7 million. According to MCI Tourismus, summer tourism in Tirol generated 2.4 billion euros this year, which represents a decline of 0.1% when inflation is taken into account.

Long-distance markets stronger at a low level
There were major differences between the long-distance and local markets. While overnight stays by Germans (-0.4%), Austrians (-1.9%), Dutch (-18%) and Swiss (-2.9%) fell, the USA (+11%) and China (+119%) recorded strong growth. Nevertheless, 81% of overnight stays in Tirol were attributable to the local markets, led by Germany with 13.2 million. In comparison: US-Americans booked 230,000 overnight stays.

Due to their importance, local markets continue to be the focus of Tirol Werbung, as Managing Director Karin Seiler explains. The aim is to strengthen the off-peak periods in particular.