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thumb|260px|[[Belvedere, Vienna|Belvedere Palace, Vienna, one of Austria's most iconic monuments]]
Tourism forms an important part of the economy of Austria, accounting for almost 9% of the Austrian gross domestic product. Austria has one guest bed for every six inhabitants, and boasts the highest per capita income from tourism in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 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.
Most visited areas
Vienna attracts a major part of tourists, both in summer and winter. The small town of Hallstatt draws in roughly a million visitors per year and is often named as a negative example of Instagram tourism.
Sports and nature
thumb|Ski Arlberg in Vorarlberg and Tyrol
Of great touristic importance are the Austrian skiing, hiking and mountaineering resorts in the Alps as well as family-friendly recreation areas and thermal spas. The same applies to the numerous Austrian lakes (e.g. Wolfgangsee and other lakes in the Salzkammergut east of Salzburg or Wörthersee in Carinthia) and castles. Stretching over Vorarlberg and Tyrol, Ski Arlberg is the largest connected ski area in Austria and one of five largest ski areas in the world.
Art and culture
For visitors interested in media art, there is the Ars Electronica Center in Linz. Since 1979 this center has organized the Ars Electronica Festival and presented the Prix Ars Electronica, the worldwide highest-ranked prize for media art.
Internationally known annual events
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!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 preceding Ash 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
|}
Arrivals
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bar:September text:September
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bar:March from:start till:3.85 text:
bar:April from:start till:2.36 text:
bar:May from:start till:3.53 text:
bar:June from:start till:4.1 text:
bar:July from:start till:5.57 text:
bar:August from:start till:6.11 text:
bar:September from:start till:3.81 text:
bar:October from:start till:2.03 text:
bar:November from:start till:1.27 text:
bar:December from:start till:2.92 text:
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pos:(50,37) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Tourist arrivals in 2024 (millions)
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pos:(50,3) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Statistics Austria
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|+Yearly tourist arrivals in millions
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bar:00 from:start till:18
bar:01 from:start till:18.2
bar:02 from:start till:18.7
bar:03 from:start till:19.1
bar:04 from:start till:19.4
bar:05 from:start till:20
bar:06 from:start till:20.3
bar:07 from:start till:20.8
bar:08 from:start till:21.9
bar:09 from:start till:21.4
bar:10 from:start till:22
bar:11 from:start till:23
bar:12 from:start till:24.2
bar:13 from:start till:24.8
bar:14 from:start till:25.3
bar:15 from:start till:26.7
bar:16 from:start till:28.1
bar:17 from:start till:29.5
bar:18 from:start till:30.8
bar:19 from:start till:31.9
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Most visitors arriving to Austria on short term basis are from the following countries of nationality:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|- style="color:white;"
! style="width:5px"|Rank
! style="width:130px"| Country
! style="width:50px"| 2014
! style="width:50px"| 2015
! style="width:50px"| 2024
|-
|1|||| 11,750,027 || 12,134,836
|14,913,898
|-
|2|||| 1,671,581 || 1,734,453
|2,233,855
|-
|3|||| 1,309,660 || 1,400,251
|1,354,358
|-
|4|| || 1,016,770 || 1,075,708
|1,249,468
|-
|5|||| 1,051,490 || 1,122,936
|1,059,801
|-
|6|| || 802,552 || 875,664
|920,023
|-
|7|| || 497,925 || 715,119
|374,130
|-
|8|| || 660,086 || 711,351
|1,184,156
|-
|9|| || 632,512 || 708,233
|942,595
|-
|10|| || 514,264 || 514,329
|620,105
|-
|11|||| 493,055 || 501,595
|670,020
|-
|12|||| 425,730 || 456,615
|830,416
|-
|13|||| 309,794 || 348,768
|398,634
|-
|14|||| 264,704 || 331,507
|390,956
|-
|15|||| 467,565 || 313,406
|52,728
|-
|16|||| 234,557 || 277,032
|226,055
|-
|17|||| 264,704 || 275,806
|375,826
|-
|18|| || 245,306 || 236,621
|101,475
|-
|19|| || 205,501 || 224,258
|225,720
|-
|20|||| 176,760 || 194,186
|301,559
|-
! colspan=2| Total foreign || 25,291,371 || 26,718,945
!31,903,467
|}
Slogans of the provinces
- Burgenland – The sunny side of Austria
- Carinthia – The joy of living
- Lower Austria – Feel alive!
- Upper Austria – ?
- Salzburg – Stage of the World
- Styria – The Green Heart of Austria
- Tyrol – Heart of the Alps
- Vienna – Now. Forever.
- Vorarlberg – Poetry in Nature
Notes and references
External links
- Official Website of the Austrian National Tourist Office