Tourism forms an important part of theeconomy of Austria, accounting for almost 9% of the Austriangross domestic product.[1] Austria has one guest bed for every six inhabitants, and boasts the highest per capita income from tourism in theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.[2] 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.[1]
In 2007, Austria ranked 9th worldwide ininternational tourism receipts, with 18.9 billion US$.[3] Ininternational tourist arrivals, Austria ranked 12th with 30.8 million tourists.[3]
Vienna attracts a major part of tourists, both in summer and winter.[1]Salzburg receives about a fifth of tourist overnight stays compared to Vienna, which ranks it 2nd in the summer season.[1] In the winter season, a number ofwinter sport resorts in western Austria overtake Salzburg in the number of tourist overnight stays:Sölden,Saalbach-Hinterglemm,Ischgl,Sankt Anton am Arlberg, andObertauern.[1]
Visits toAustria mostly include trips toVienna withits cathedral, its "Heurigen" (wine pubs) and romantic Waltz music events. Worth a visit areSalzburg, birthplace ofMozart,Innsbruck, capital ofTyrol surrounded by theAlps,Linz, capital ofUpper Austria with thelargest Cathedral of Austria and modern cultural highlights, and theDanube valley with its vineyards, for example theWachau orDunkelsteinerwald, which are betweenMelk andKrems. In the western part of the country the provinceVorarlberg reaches theLake Constance, in the eastern partNeusiedler See. The three most visited landmarks in Austria areSchönbrunn Palace (2,590,000 visitors per year),Tiergarten Schönbrunn (2,453,987 visitors) andMariazell Basilica (1,500,000 visitors).[4] The small town ofHallstatt is drawing in roughly a million visitors per year and is often named as a negative example ofInstagram tourism.[5]
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Of great touristic importance are the Austrianskiing,hiking andmountaineering resorts in theAlps as well as family-friendly recreation areas andthermal spas. The same applies to the numerous Austrian lakes (e.g.Wolfgangsee and other lakes in theSalzkammergut east ofSalzburg orWörthersee inCarinthia) and castles. Stretching overVorarlberg andTyrol,Ski Arlberg is the largest connected ski area in Austria and one of five largest ski areas in the world.[6]
For visitors interested in media art, there is theArs Electronica Center inLinz. Since 1979 this center has organized the Ars Electronica Festival and presented thePrix Ars Electronica, the worldwide highest-ranked prize for media art.[7]
| 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 precedingAsh 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 |
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Most visitors arriving to Austria on short term basis are from the following countries of nationality:[11]
| Rank | Country | 2014 | 2015 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Germany | 11,750,027 | 12,134,836 | 14,913,898 |
| 2 |  Netherlands | 1,671,581 | 1,734,453 | 2,233,855 |
| 3 |  Switzerland | 1,309,660 | 1,400,251 | 1,354,358 |
| 4 |  France | 1,016,770 | 1,075,708 | 1,249,468 |
| 5 |  Italy | 1,051,490 | 1,122,936 | 1,059,801 |
| 6 |  United Kingdom | 802,552 | 875,664 | 920,023 |
| 7 |  China | 497,925 | 715,119 | 374,130 |
| 8 |  Czech Republic | 660,086 | 711,351 | 1,184,156 |
| 9 |  United States | 632,512 | 708,233 | 942,595 |
| 10 |  Belgium | 514,264 | 514,329 | 620,105 |
| 11 |  Hungary | 493,055 | 501,595 | 670,020 |
| 12 |  Poland | 425,730 | 456,615 | 830,416 |
| 13 |  Spain | 309,794 | 348,768 | 398,634 |
| 14 |  Denmark | 264,704 | 331,507 | 390,956 |
| 15 |  Russia | 467,565 | 313,406 | 52,728 |
| 16 |  South Korea | 234,557 | 277,032 | 226,055 |
| 17 |  Romania | 264,704 | 275,806 | 375,826 |
| 18 |  Japan | 245,306 | 236,621 | 101,475 |
| 19 |  Sweden | 205,501 | 224,258 | 225,720 |
| 20 |  Slovakia | 176,760 | 194,186 | 301,559 |
| Total foreign | 25,291,371 | 26,718,945 | 31,903,467 | |
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