A Tourism Satellite Account for Lower Austria. The Economics, Methodology and Main Results for 2007

Tourism plays an important role in the economy of the region of Lower Austria. According to the Regional Tourism Satellite Account for Lower Austria developed by Statistics Austria and WIFO, the total expenditure for holiday and business trips, visits to friends and relatives as well as trips to weekend houses and second homes amounted to 3.02 billion € ( +6.9 percent above the previous year). From this total about 65 percent can be allotted to Austrian travellers, 23.7 percent to foreign guests and 11.3 percent was spent by domestic travellers whilst staying in their second home. The direct added value of tourism in Lower Austria amounted to 1.27 billion € (+6.6 percent). On a purely mathematical basis this is equivalent to 3.0 percent of the gross regional product. The total direct and indirect contribution of added value by tourism to the total regional economy was 6.8 percent in 2007 on the basis of the input-output table for 2000 and thus did not change in comparison with 2006.