In Germany in third place, the most popular are relaxation and nature. 10 million corona special budget for Austria advertising.
Good news for the local tourism industry. 79 percent of Austrians and 71 percent of Germans are planning or considering a summer vacation. Holidays in your own country are particularly in demand. 54 percent of Austrians want to vacation in Germany, that's around three million people. Austria ranks third among Germans as a summer holiday destination behind Italy and Spain. 13 percent of all Germans are considering a holiday in the Alpine republic, that is a potential of six million guests.
According to the survey, the most popular are recreation and nature, mountains, hiking, cycling, but there is also interest in city and cultural vacations and the cuisine is also an issue.
That is the result of a survey by the German Institute for Tourism and Swimming Pool Research in Northern Europe (NIT) on behalf of Österreich Werbung (ÖW) and the nine regional tourism organizations.
Lustkiller quarantine
The desire for summer vacation is great, but is somewhat clouded by the uncertainties due to the pandemic. The main concern is whether the trip can go ahead as planned. When it comes to bookings, consumers have top priority when it comes to a money-back guarantee and accommodating cancellation conditions, explains Ulf Sonntag, head of INT market research. According to Sunday, the concern of being infected with Corona is not very high and much smaller than the fear of quarantine. The quarantine obligation “is a killer and is drying up travel flows”. Consumers are therefore still waiting, booking at very short notice and have a high need for information.
ÖW boss Petra Stolba and Andreas Winkelhofer, managing director of Upper Austria Tourism and spokesman for the regional tourism organizations, emphasized the importance of “providing the guests with good information”. There are no Austria-wide uniform cancellation rules, “but the companies are prepared and offer many solutions”.
From the end of March / beginning of April, the ÖW will start a large summer advertising campaign in eight EU countries. A cycling campaign is being carried out again with the federal states, and city tourism concepts are also being worked on. In 2012, the ÖW will also spend a special budget of around 10 million euros from corona aid from the federal government.
According to Sonntag, the incidents in Tyrol should not affect the booking behavior of the German neighbors. That will no longer play a role in travel planning in the summer, “people look ahead and not back”.
The survey was carried out between January 29 and February 8, 2021. 1597 people in Austria and 1992 people in Germany were surveyed.
