21.06.2024

The Austrian Tourism and Leisure Industry in 2023

Direct and Indirect Value Added Effects of Around 29.5 billion € and a GDP contribution of 6.2 percent

On the conceptual basis of tourism satellite accounts, tourism expenditure by domestic and foreign guests in Austria in 2023 amounted to 35.9 billion € according to initial estimates (+16.6 percent year-on-year). According to WIFO model calculations, this resulted in direct and indirect value added effects of around 29.5 billion € (+13.8 percent compared to 2022) and a GDP contribution of 6.2 percent as well as total employment effects in the tourism industry of around 311,300 full-time equivalents or 7.6 percent of the total workforce in Austria.

At +10.3 billion €, the travel balance according to the balance of payments was 15.6 percent higher in 2023 than in 2022 (exports +20.7 percent, imports +24.4 percent; nominal, including international passenger transport). Austria's market share in the nominal tourism exports of 32 European countries is estimated to have been 4.1 percent in 2023 (2022: 3.9 percent), once again putting it in 8th place in the ranking. According to estimates, non-tourist leisure consumption by the domestic population amounted to 53.2 billion € in 2023 (+9.3 percent year-on-year). This resulted in 37.3 billion € in direct and indirect added value (+9.0 percent compared to 2022) and a GDP contribution of 7.8 percent as well as a good 367,000 full-time equivalent employees (9.0 percent of total employment).

The demand of overnight and day tourists for goods and services, e.g., in accommodation and restaurants, passenger transportation, travel agencies and tour operators, but also in the areas of sports, culture and recreation, triggers additional production and subsequent value added and employment effects in the respective economic sectors. To record these effects in their entirety, WIFO and Statistics Austria have estimated annual Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) for Austria on the basis of international guidelines since 2002.