Statistics Austria: According to preliminary figures, the number of overnight stays fell by more than a third to 97.9 million.
In 2020, the corona crisis put a heavy blow on domestic tourism from March onwards. In the entire calendar year, the number of overnight stays fell below the 100 million mark for the first time in around 50 years compared to the previous year. The number of vacationers almost halved. The accommodation businesses recorded a fall in overnight stays of 35.9 percent from 152.7 million to just 97.9 million, as the preliminary data from Statistics Austria show.
Compared to the previous year, around 55 million overnight stays were missing. The number of holidaymakers in hotels, guest houses and holiday apartments plummeted by 45.8 percent to 25 million – as a result of lockdowns and international travel warnings, 21.2 million fewer guests were welcomed than in 2019.
There were more foreign tourists (15.1 million) than domestic tourists (9.94 million). But the number of visitors from abroad has more than halved (minus 52.7 percent); the number of holidaymakers from Austria only decreased by almost a third (minus 30.5 percent).
“Corona-related business closings, international travel restrictions and quarantine regulations are severely affecting tourism in Austria,” said Statistics Austria boss Tobias Thomas on Wednesday. After a peak in overnight stays of more than 150 million in 2019, the number of overnight stays in the corona year 2020 “dropped to the level of the early 1970s”.
The holidaymakers from abroad booked 66.3 million overnight stays – a decrease of 41.2 percent compared to the previous year. According to statisticians, overnight stays by foreign guests were below 70 million for the last time in 1970 (63.6 million). The overnight stays by domestic guests fell by a good fifth to 31.63 million (minus 20.8 percent).
