Outlook for Tyrol – Weak economy: “Tourism is stabilizing”

Former US President-elect Donald Trump announced huge tariff increases during the election campaign. “You have to take his word for it,” says Stefan Garbislander, head of economic policy, innovation and sustainability at the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce in an interview with the “Krone”.

It is still uncertain what impact Trump’s second presidency and the current government crisis in Germany will have on economic growth in Austria and Tyrol.

A growth of a maximum of one percent
“In Tyrol, tourism acts as a stabilizing pillar,” says Garbislander. However, manufacturing is the sector “clearly suffering the most at the moment”. The bottom line is that the manager currently expects growth “of a maximum of one percent for both the whole of Austria and Tyrol”. However, this cannot compensate for what has been lost in the past two years due to the recession.

“Free trade agreements should have been concluded”
As the “Krone” recently reported, State Councilor Mario Gerber (ÖVP) believes that Trump’s presidency will not have a negative impact on Tyrol, as exports abroad are “negligible”. Garbislander disagrees. “Tyrol’s exports to the USA amount to approximately five percent. But there is also the fact that Germany is the most important trading partner for Tyrol. And for Germany the US is a very important partner.”

Finally, Garbislander says that “the FTA with the US should have been signed ten years ago.”