Tourism analysis: Demand Recovery Since the Beginning of the Year, but Unfavourable Signs for Winter Season

Due to the war in the Ukraine and massive inflation, the general conditions for the tourism industry remained difficult even after the pandemic-related measures had largely come to an end. Nevertheless, the industry has increasingly recovered since the beginning of 2022: while domestic accommodation establishments still recorded 32.6 percent fewer overnight stays in January compared to the same period in 2019, the gap in demand had narrowed to an average of 15.3 percent by July. This significant upward trend is mainly due to the first half of the 2022 summer season (May to July), where the number of overnight stays almost reached pre-crisis levels (37.2 million, –4.3 percent). Measured in terms of guest arrivals (11.8 million), there was still a need to catch up from May to July (–7.5 percent) compared with the same period in 2019. In comparison, in 2021, demand in the first half of the summer was still 42.1 percent (overnight stays) and 33.2 percent (arrivals) below the pre-crisis level.