Central and Eastern Europe as the great white hope of the Austrian tourism and hotel business

The importance to Austria of tourists from Central and Eastern Europe is increasing continuously. Guests from Central and Eastern Europe are very much sought after, since they are less price-sensitive and, on the whole, more willing to spend on their holidays than tourists from Western Europe. It is true that, in 2007, the percentage of guests from Central and Eastern European countries was still comparatively low at 5,5 percent of overnight stays. However, by comparison with the almost stagnating number of tourists Western Europe, the region shows a yearly growth of more than 10 percent; Romania even shows an increase of approximately 40 percent per year. A further difference is noticeable in the duration of stay: guests from Central and Eastern European Countries stay for increasingly longer periods. The fact that the expenditure of Russian tourists in particular has increased by more than 30% per year since 2000 has made itself felt primarily in Vienna and in the Tyrol. However, the restrictive opening hours exercise a somewhat dampening effect on shopping enthusiasts. Tourists also complain about the inadequate traffic connections between Austria and Central and Eastern Europe.

Austrian hoteliers have reacted to the inflow from Eastern Europe by expanding their language services: new employees, translated information materials, websites and menus. They also offer language courses to their long-term employees. Approximately two thirds of those questioned have entered into at least one cooperation agreement with a tour operator from Central or Eastern Europe or from Russia. However, Romania and Bulgaria, the two central growth markets in the region, are still being neglected in this connection. The countries of origin taken into account in the study were Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia (including Montenegro), Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.