Market – Austria

The 3 team members in charge of the Austrian market are based in Vienna, which are passionate to promote the travel destination Switzerland to current and future Austrian travellers.

Trade & Campaigning and Activation

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	Patricia Biedermann, Project Manager Travel Trade Austria
Contact LinkedIn	+43 1 513 26 40 12 Patricia.Biedermann@switzerland.com

Media & Campaigning and Activation

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	Elisabeth Sommer-Weinhofer, Project Manager Media Austria
Contact LinkedIn	+43 1 513 26 40 13 elisabeth.sommer@switzerland.com www.linkedin.com/in/elisabeth-sommer-weinhofer

Office Manager

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	Silvia Reitz, Office Manager Germany & Austria
Contact LinkedIn	+49 695 09 551 001 silvia.reitz@switzerland.com www.linkedin.com/in/silvia-reitz-70945b159

• ST market research page –– here
• ST Research Report 2024 –– Download here
• ST TMS Report Austria 2023 –– Download here

Click here for selected marketing activities in 2025.

Click here for our „Reporting Central“ database. With this database, Switzerland Tourism provides partners who participate in joint activities with a direct insight into the corresponding results.

Austria is currently in a tense situation due to its strong economic dependence on Germany, particularly on the automotive supplier industry. At the same time, the country continues to be among those with above-average inflation in the euro area (forecast for 2025: around +3.7%). The population primarily feels the impact of rising prices in energy, food, as well as significantly increasing costs in hotels and restaurants.

Politically, the environment is unstable: the governing coalition of ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS shows limited cohesion, while the right-wing populist FPÖ is exerting considerable pressure and is currently the strongest political force. Despite these conditions, the willingness to travel and spend on leisure remains high, especially outside the highest income brackets.

Holiday travel continues to be a priority. Rail travel to nearby countries such as Switzerland is particularly popular, as are domestic holidays with a touring character. Demand is developing steadily and positively, and interest among tour operators continues to grow. Most trips to Switzerland are still made by private car, supplemented by flight connections from Vienna (Zurich, Basel, Geneva) as well as Graz–Zurich.

Rail transport is considered efficient and is being continuously expanded. The introduction of the nationwide Austrian “Climate Ticket” three years ago (comparable to the Swiss GA travelcard) has attracted additional customer groups to public transport and has strengthened the importance of sustainable mobility solutions in tourism.

At the end of 2025, the Austrian economy remains in a phase of stagnation or very weak recovery. As in 2024, little to no growth is expected again for 2025, depending on the forecasting institute. A slight improvement is only anticipated for 2026 (Austrian National Bank: approx. +1.2%). The labor market remains generally robust, although unemployment is expected to rise slightly in 2025. Ongoing uncertainties—such as international trade conflicts, tariff issues, and the broader European environment—continue to dampen growth.

Inflation in 2025 is well below the peaks of previous years but, at around 2.7–2.9%, remains clearly above the ECB’s target. One reason is the expiration of earlier government relief measures. From a Swiss perspective, an additional factor comes into play: the persistently strong Swiss franc makes travel to Switzerland noticeably more expensive.

At the same time, it is evident that domestic tourism in Austria itself has been among the strongest drivers of price increases since 2024. Price differences compared to traditional high-price countries such as Switzerland are increasingly narrowing, particularly in accommodation and gastronomy. This relativizes the perception of Switzerland as a significantly more expensive travel destination and may have positive effects on competitiveness in the Austrian market in the medium term.

Despite economic uncertainty, the desire to consciously indulge while on holiday remains strong in Austria. Topics such as climate protection, sustainability, and trust in a high-performing transport system are gaining importance. Reliable infrastructure is increasingly perceived as part of the holiday experience itself. Against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions, Switzerland benefits from its image as a stable, safe, and reliable destination.

Tour operators see particular potential in experience-oriented, comfortable, and sustainable products. Touring formats such as an “Alpine cruise” align well with current trends. The combination of four language and cultural regions, high-quality public transport, impressive landscapes and attractive cities represent a clear unique selling proposition for Switzerland. “Swisstainable” concept is gaining awareness, primarily perceived as a quality label in the Austrian market – still: willingness to pay price premiums remains limited.

A new distribution-channel turned up end 2025: „Jö!-Reisen”. Produced by DER Tours in Germany and selected particularly following the request from the Austrian market these offers are distributed mainly via the supermarkets from Billa / Penny (=like Migros) and OMV, a large petrol station-network. 

The success of panoramic rail offerings interest in additional routes (e.g., GoldenPass Express, Voralpen Express). Rail travel is increasingly perceived as a slower-paced, comfortable, and sustainable form of travel. New offers / luxury train trips (e.g. Zentralbahn) are highly welcome.

Austrians are among the higher-spending European visitors to Switzerland. At the same time, a perception gap persists: the independence and diversity of Swiss mountain and city destinations are often underestimated.

In our view, the success of the panoramic trains and the „experience“ of the Bernina & Glacier Express can also have a positive impact on other routes in the coming years: GoPEx, Voralpen Express, GoldenPass as well as „hidden gems“ – one of the communication strongpoints of ST Austria. The two biggest railway-tour operators (Ruefa & ÖBB Railtours) were thrilled when they heard about the new planned luxury train of ZB / between Lucerne & Interlaken.

Travellers from Austria are among the most generous European guests, spending per person per day nearly as much as guests from Luxemburg, nearly 50% more than guests from Germany. The challenge is that Austrians are far too unaware that our mountains and cities are very different from those in Austria and Germany.

ST Vienna will (further) strengthen the communication of the following topics in 2025/26:  Touring (GToS & GTToS) / Cities / “Hidden Gems” / Swisstainable / off-season.

Max & Kris are the typical representatives of the target groups we focus on: goals and wishes of these two fictitious people are at the heart of our marketing work – in order to best achieve your goals.  This does not mean that we ignore everyone else: Austria also has a lot of active skiers and hikers, luxury city travelers, shoppers and culture lovers. But the focus is on the Max & Kris personas here.