The preliminary statistics show around 3.25 million guest arrivals and 8.64 million overnight stays. The number of overnight stays “even tops the record result from 2019 with around 8.52 million overnight stays,” said State Tourism Councilor Markus Achleitner (ÖVP) happily on Wednesday.
The increase is primarily due to an increase of 20.2 percent in overnight stays abroad (compared to 2022). Domestic guests accounted for 10 percent more overnight stays in 2023 than in the previous year. Czechs in particular increasingly vacationed in Upper Austria; this group of guests saw an increase in overnight stays of 27.8 percent. The strongest foreign market, Germany, recorded an increase of 13.8 percent and guests from the Netherlands also spent 14.9 percent more nights in Upper Austria than in 2022, explained the regional council.
The snowfall at the beginning of December also brought good demand at the start of the winter season. According to initial feedback, this booking situation “will continue over the Christmas holidays,” said Achleitner in an initial interim report. The State Council was convinced that this upswing would continue throughout 2024, especially as it was a “super cultural year” with the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl – Salzkammergut as well as the anniversary years for Anton Bruckner (200th birthday) and Saint Wolfgang (1,100th birthday). .birthday) is coming up.
