Tourism in Austria
forms an important part of the economy of Austria, accounting for almost 9% of the Austrian gross domestic product. Austria has one guest bed for every six inhabitants, and boasts the highest per capita income from tourism in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. As of 2024, the total number of tourist overnight stays during the summer season is continuing to outnumber the overnight stays in the winter season. Peaks are in February and July/August.
In 2007, Austria ranked 9th worldwide in international tourism receipts, with 18.9 billion US$. In international tourist arrivals, Austria ranked 12th with 30.8 million tourists.
Most visited areas
attracts a major part of tourists, both in summer and winter. Salzburg receives about a fifth of tourist overnight stays compared to Vienna, which ranks it 2nd in the summer season. In the winter season, a number of winter sport resorts in western Austria overtake Salzburg in the number of tourist overnight stays: Sölden, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Ischgl, Sankt Anton am Arlberg, and Obertauern.Visits to Austria mostly include trips to Vienna with its cathedral, its "Heurigen" and romantic Waltz music events. Worth a visit are Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart, Innsbruck, capital of Tyrol surrounded by the Alps, Linz, capital of Upper Austria with the largest Cathedral of Austria and modern cultural highlights, and the Danube valley with its vineyards, for example the Wachau or Dunkelsteinerwald, which are between Melk and Krems. In the western part of the country the province Vorarlberg reaches the Lake Constance, in the eastern part Neusiedler See. The three most visited landmarks in Austria are Schönbrunn Palace, Tiergarten Schönbrunn and Mariazell Basilica. The small town of Hallstatt is drawing in roughly a million visitors per year and is often named as a negative example of Instagram tourism.
Sports and nature
Of great touristic importance are the Austrian skiing, hiking and mountaineering resorts in the Alps as well as family-friendly recreation areas and thermal spas. The same applies to the numerous Austrian lakes and castles. Stretching over Vorarlberg and Tyrol, Ski Arlberg is the largest connected ski area in Austria and one of five largest ski areas in the world.Art and culture
For visitors interested in media art, there is the Ars Electronica Center in Linz. Since 1979 this center has organized the Ars Electronica Festival and presented the Prix Ars Electronica, the worldwide highest-ranked prize for media art.Internationally known annual events
| Name | Location | Date | Description |
| Vienna New Year's Concert | Vienna | 1 January | Traditional concert for classical music |
| Hahnenkamm race | Kitzbühel, Tyrol | January | Ski race |
| Vienna Opera Ball | Vienna | Thursday preceding Ash Wednesday | Ball |
| Life Ball | Vienna | June | HIV and AIDS awareness event |
| Donauinselfest | Vienna | End of June | Biggest open air music festival in the world, free entry |
| Bregenzer Festspiele | Bregenz, Vorarlberg | July/August | Opera festival |
| Salzburg Festival | Salzburg | July/August | Opera festival |
| FM4 Frequency Festival | Sankt Pölten | August | Alternative rock, electronica and hip hop festival |
| Internationale Gartenbaumesse Tulln | Tulln, Lower Austria | End of August | Horticulture trade fair, Europe's biggest flower show |
| Ars Electronica Festival | Linz, Upper Austria | September | Festival devoted to technology and new media art including workshops, discussions and lectures |
| Viennale | Vienna | October | Film festival |
Arrivals
ImageSize=width:270 height:300
PlotArea=left:60 bottom:75 top:10 right:16
AlignBars=justify
Period=from:0 till:7
TimeAxis=orientation:horizontal
Colors=
id:gray value:gray
id:line1 value:gray
id:line2 value:gray
ScaleMajor=unit:year increment:1 start:0 gridcolor:line2
ScaleMinor=unit:year increment:1 start:0 gridcolor:line1
BarData=
bar:January text:January
bar:February text:February
bar:March text:March
bar:April text:April
bar:May text:May
bar:June text:June
bar:July text:July
bar:August text:August
bar:September text:September
bar:October text:October
bar:November text:November
bar:December text:December
PlotData=
color:tan1 width:10
bar:January from:start till:3.74 text:
bar:February from:start till:4.27 text:
bar:March from:start till:3.85 text:
bar:April from:start till:2.36 text:
bar:May from:start till:3.53 text:
bar:June from:start till:4.1 text:
bar:July from:start till:5.57 text:
bar:August from:start till:6.11 text:
bar:September from:start till:3.81 text:
bar:October from:start till:2.03 text:
bar:November from:start till:1.27 text:
bar:December from:start till:2.92 text:
TextData=
pos: textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Tourist arrivals in 2024
TextData=
pos: textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Source: Trading Economics /
TextData=
pos: textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Statistics Austria
Most visitors arriving to Austria on short term basis are from the following countries of nationality:
Slogans of the provinces
- Burgenland – The sunny side of Austria
- Carinthia – The joy of living
- Lower Austria – Feel alive!
- Upper Austria – ?
- Salzburg – Stage of the World
- Styria – The Green Heart of Austria
- Tyrol – Heart of the Alps
- Vienna – Now. Forever.
- Vorarlberg – Poetry in Nature