Despite high inflation and the chaos of the war in Israel and Ukraine, “everything indicates that it will still be a good winter,” says State Secretary for Tourism Susanne Kraus-Winkler (ÖVP). The desire to travel is there, staff is needed in the service and kitchen.
In general, reservations in hotels, guesthouses and holiday apartments have already started. “I am optimistic about this winter: the holidays are well booked, but it is a bit mixed.”
Apart from the days around Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the rooms can be reserved at very short notice, depending on the weather and geopolitical developments.
Inflation is a problem, as is the search for skilled labor – which is urgent depending on location – and climate change. Especially “in the kitchen and service” there is a lack of “approximately ten percent of the employees, in some companies ten to twenty percent, in some companies about three to five percent”. The seasonal quota allows up to 4,287 unskilled and skilled workers from third countries to work in Austria.
Winter holidaymakers come “mainly from Europe”. In addition to Austria, these are mainly Germany, Great Britain and still Switzerland. “And we see that the desire to travel is there,” says Kraus-Winkler.
Temporary lack of snow, such as at the beginning of the season, is less of a concern for the tourism expert. “The new snow cannons can now produce at minus one degree.”
As for the budget, Kraus-Winkler considers her department to be in a “solid” position. According to the federal budget, 62.715 million euros in taxpayers’ money will be available for domestic tourism in the coming year.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
