In a survey by the Linz market research institute Market on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce (WKO) at the end of last year, almost 80 percent of those surveyed said that this year a normal holiday feeling could arise again. A year ago, in the middle of the pandemic, only a third of those surveyed shared this opinion, two years ago it was a good fifth (22 percent).
However, inflation and price hikes have made “people more careful about when and how they travel”. “Travel is a central need for people, even in a challenging economic environment,” said Lisa Weddig, Managing Director of Österreich Werbung (ÖW). But the costs played an increasingly important role. According to the ÖW, travel plans for winter and summer are becoming less specific.
Hesitation in booking
At the moment, many potential guests do not yet know where to go, according to an ÖW survey published on Thursday. In the three most important countries of origin for domestic tourism, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, “mainly the rising prices and the personal financial situation” are the reasons for the hesitation.
The CoV pandemic and the Ukraine war only played a minor role in waiting for the upcoming travel booking, the ÖW said, referring to the survey. The “Travel intentions 2023” were surveyed in December 2022 – 1,194 people were surveyed in Austria, 1,009 in Germany and 1,134 in the Netherlands.
How to save
Savings come in a variety of forms. “People are increasingly booking in the cheaper off-season, choosing cheaper accommodation and making more conscious decisions about their holiday destination,” said Weddig. At the same time, vacationers would understand that tourism companies also have to save. In general, they cannot pass on the increased costs for energy, food and services one-to-one to the – price-conscious – guests.
For the majority of those surveyed, “acceptable” or “barely acceptable” were restaurant operations with a time limit, a ten percent increase in the room price and a restriction on the opening of the wellness area to two hours in the evening. On the other hand, only a small proportion would accept a 20 percent increase in the room price or a complete closure of the wellness area.
Strong holiday desire meets many beds
“There is this increase in price and the need to save, but the desire of the population to take a vacation is stronger than ever,” said Market board member David Pfarrhofer recently. The chairman of the WKO specialist association for the hotel industry, Johann Spreitzhofer, agrees. However, 70 percent of the companies would state that the short-term nature of bookings would continue to increase. “Guests have also become more price-sensitive, so you have to respond to that,” said Spreitzhofer. 50 percent of the companies would also state “that they have to be more generous with the cancellation conditions”.
In any case, vacationers in Austria will find enough choice: In the past tourism year (November 2021 to October 2022) the number of hotels, guesthouses and holiday apartments increased by two percent to 68,800 compared to 2020/21, the number of beds provided increased by 1 .7 percent to 1.16 million, Statistics Austria announced last week. That is more than the pre-crisis level – more on this in oesterreich.ORF.at.
