The traders are allowed to open again on Monday – but the hotels remain closed. Which the industry doesn't like at all. Industry spokesman Robert Seeber calls for “predictability and clear perspectives”. The companies are equipped for safe unlocking, with hygiene and test strategies. They need the guests like a bite of bread, because the number of overnight stays this winter is likely to be only around 10.2 million. That is 83 percent less than in the same period last year, according to current figures from the Austrian Institute for Economic Research (Wifo).
The Wifo tourism expert Oliver Fritz assumes in his calculations that the foreign demand will largely fail in March due to the restrictions and will not reach a “relevant level” again until April. The “extensive elimination of the winter season” can no longer be prevented. Even opening steps from March onwards would not change that much.
The guest structure would shift significantly in favor of domestic tourists over the entire winter half-year. In the last “normal season” 2018/19, their share was 22.7 percent, now it is around 44 percent. In addition to the expenses incurred by tourists who stay overnight, there would be considerable losses for day visitors.
Summer season uncertain
In the winter pre-season (November and December), the Austrian accommodation providers only counted around 375,800 guests, 94 percent fewer than in the same period in 2019.
Due to the uncertainty about the course of the pandemic, no reliable statements could be made about the coming summer season. Assuming optimistic scenarios, demand can be expected in 2022 at the earliest, which will approach the pre-crisis level. In the event that the recovery of city tourism is delayed due to the dependence on long-distance markets and flight connections, normalization cannot be expected until 2023, the expert writes.
But there is also reason for optimism, because: “The desire to travel is not only unbroken, but one can assume that it has become even greater due to the long period of travel restrictions,” the survey says. Especially since Austria was rediscovered by many residents as the main holiday destination last summer and was able to present its advantages. Fritz thinks it is possible that this “can lead to a more sustainable revival of domestic tourism”. (here)
