Results almost back to pre-crisis levels – Germany replaces Austria as No. 1 – most successful year for Salzburg
Salzburg (OTS) – With 3,201,328 overnight stays and 1,776,539 arrivals, the 2023 tourism year ended slightly below the figures for the comparable year 2019 (-3.25% for overnight stays, -7.0% for arrivals). The German market is sending a strong signal, having increased by 20.0% since 2019, replacing Austria as the No. 1 country of origin. While the USA has remained constant as the most important long-distance market and the Netherlands has seen strong growth, China only accounts for 22.5% of overnight stays from 2019.
In his last presentation of the tourism statistics before the end of his term of office, the mayor in charge of the department draws a brief conclusion: “In my time as a tourism officer, I have seen ups and downs. The Corona crisis was certainly a big turning point. In 2023 the industry will have recovered again and tourism will assert itself as an indispensable factor for the local economy.”
High energy costs, inflation and the lack of skilled workers are affecting companies – demand for the cultural city of Salzburg is unbroken and the price increases are accepted by guests. “Quality counts,” Preuner is convinced.
Florian Kreibich, who launched a tourism strategy 2040 with Mayor Harald Preuner in the summer, is pleased that tourism in the city of Salzburg has picked up speed again after the pandemic and points to the importance of tourism as an important economic factor in our city well, the added value of tourism is impressive. “Our focus should be on promoting precisely defined quality tourism in the city and thus increasing acceptance among the population.”
Christine Schönhuber, Managing Director of TSG Tourismus Salzburg GmbH (TSG), emphasizes the importance of the mix of nations: “The strong increases from the German and Dutch markets speak for the attractiveness of Salzburg’s offering of culture and nature.”
Guests from long-distance markets, in turn, travel anti-cyclically to European holidaymakers, thus ensuring a revival in the off-seasons. With an above-average length of stay and higher expenses on site, they make an important contribution to tourism added value.
Tourism 2023 in numbers
Overnight stays, arrivals and countries of origin: With 1,776,539 arrivals (-7.0% compared to 2019 and +23.44% compared to 2022) and 3,201,328 overnight stays (-3.25% compared to 2019 and +21.7% in Compared to 2022, tourism in Salzburg has recovered and is following the results of the time before Corona.
What stands out among the top 10 nations is the strength of the German market. 771,806 overnight stays represent an increase of 20.01% compared to 2019 (643,105 overnight stays). This means that our neighboring country has replaced the domestic guest (752,499 overnight stays, +0.98% compared to 2019) from first place in the national statistics. With 262,951 overnight stays (-7.84% compared to 2019), the USA is in third place as the strongest overseas market, followed by Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland. The Netherlands (7th place) has 68,146 overnight stays, an increase of 34.12% compared to 2019.
Strong signals are coming from the long-distance markets: South Korea (-32.53%) is in the top 10 together with Southeast Asia (-11.65%) and Australia (-3.65%). With 32,186 overnight stays (-77.5%), the Chinese market is still far behind the results from 2019 (143,061 overnight stays).
Salzburg Card: A total of 258,397 Salzburg Cards were sold in 2023, which is 2.4% less than in the best-selling year of 2019 (264,665 units). In total, the card achieved 1,8282,422 admissions to the sights. What is striking is the increase in cards sold for 48 and 72 hours, which indicates greater price sensitivity among guests (48 hours: 68,549, 72 hours: 36,990).
Coaches: 20,985 coaches were registered in 2023, which is 47% less than in the comparable period of 2019. The access routes to the two terminals are distributed as planned: 47% of the buses used the Nonntal terminal, 53% used the terminal on Paris-Lodron Straße. The busiest month was December with 2,773 registered buses; In 2019, December counted 3,685 buses, but this was far behind the summer months.
Salzburg Congress: 2023 was by far the most successful year for the congress center. 107 events over 250 days of occupancy brought in sales of over EUR 3.5 million. The high number of international conferences also led to a significant increase in directly generated overnight stays: 41,283 in 2023, an increase of 12.67% compared to 2019 (36,640 overnight stays). Extra nights and expenses from accompanying persons bring additional added value.
Outlook 2024: the tourism priorities
Marketing: The focus of this year’s press and marketing activities under the motto ‘The Legacy of the Prince-Archbishops’ is the 10th anniversary of the DomQuartier. The Competence Center for Baroque was opened on May 17, 2014 and is one of the most important sights in Salzburg. The museum tour impressively shows how the prince-archbishops shaped Salzburg architecturally, musically and culturally. In Advent 2024, the Christmas market on Domplatz and Residenzplatz will also celebrate its 50th anniversary in this famous setting in front of the cathedral.
Countries of origin: The coming months will bring further strengthening of the international markets. A key reason for this is the expansion of capacity on long-haul flights at Munich Airport; This includes new destinations in the USA and increased frequencies to Japan and China. Overnight stays from Germany, which have recently risen sharply, are expected to stabilize due to the economic outlook. It is important to strengthen and focus activities and communication. This includes, for example, a mobility campaign for sustainable travel by train, which is being worked on together with SalzburgerLand Tourismus GmbH.
Questions & Contact:
TSG Tourism Salzburg GmbH
Martina C. Trummer
Communications department
0043 662 88987 325
communication@salzburg.info