The Effect of the Austrian EU Presidency in 2006 on Tourism

Austria's presidency of the European Council in the first six months of 2006 had a positive effect on the overall economy: presidency-related revenues, based on tourism exports, appear to have reached at least € 120 million. The temporary value-added effect derivable from this is almost € 100 million or about +0.1 percent of the GDP for the first half of 2006. Temporary employment effects generated some 2,000 full-time jobs. Cycle-derived multiplier effects may account for another once-only revenue growth of 20 to 40 percent. Considering those public expenditures that are assignable to the presidency, a positive image and publicity effects, possible revisits and the tax effect of expenditure flows, the overall positive effect of the EU presidency may well be clearly above the calculated minimum limit of € 120 million in additional revenues.