Source: UNWTO Tourism Dashboard

Data collection and market intelligence

Tourism is an important sector of the Austrian economy and has a crucial influence on income, employment and regional development. As the Co-chair of the UNWTO Committee on Turism Statistics, Austria is one of the leaders in the process of establishing a Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST).

• Ongoing process of development of a new standard in tourism, materialized in the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST), which takes into consideration the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of tourism.
• Given the direct interactions between tourism industry operators, the environment, and communities the importance of ESG in tourism cannot be overstated. Joining efforts to develop a harmonized ESG framework that can be used as a reference by tourism businesses.

Sustainable tourism

Sustainability must become a fundamental principle of tourism, also in Austria. The focus of Austrian tourism policy is not only on the visitor any longer, but also on the needs of the entrepreneurs and their staff members, as well as of the local communities and of the environment. Together with these, Austrian tourism policy also takes responsibility and makes contribution to the implementation to the UN SDGs.

• Engaging in different initiatives of the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme:
  • Global Tourism Plastics Initiative unites the tourism sector behind a common vision to address the root causes of plastic pollution. It enables businesses, governments, and other tourism stakeholders to lead by example in the shift towards a circular economy of plastics.
  • Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism aims to raise the climate ambition of tourism stakeholders and secure strong actions to support the global commitment to have emissions by 2030 and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050.
• Possible establishment of an observatory for the UNWTO International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories, monitoring sustainable tourism development at destination level.
• Ongoing process of development of a new standard in tourism, materialized in the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST), which takes into consideration the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of tourism.

Rural tourism

Austria maintains the focus on family-run enterprises, to which Austrian tourism is inseparably linked. Family enterprises shall constitute the backbone of the domestic offers also in future and offer the guest authentic and typical experiences of holidays in Austria, not least because it is where hospitality is lived in a special way.

• Foster participation in the UNWTO Digital Futures programme, that seeks to accelerate economic recovery of the tourism sector by scaling up innovative SMEs, unleashing digital technologies to create jobs and enhance future resilience in the linkages of the tourism value chain post COVID-19.
• UNWTO Rural Tourism Development Programme - Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO: In 2021, Kaunertal received the label, followed by Wagrain and Zell am See in 2022.

Education and training

Making training and labor market fit for the future.

• Training and education:
  • UNWTO Tourism Online Academy: scholarships granted to member states annually.
  • UNWTO TedQual: Quality Assurance for Tourism Education, Training and Research Programmes.
  • UNWTO Students’ League: initiative that supports country's young people in their preparation and engagement to help shape a better world.
  • UNWTO international internship programme
• Youth Empowerment:
  • Global Youth Tourism Summit 2022: Austria was represented by 1 participant.