Visitor Economy Strategy Turns Five – an Interim Report

A defining element of the Vienna Tourist Board’s future development, environmental, economic and social sustainability is also reflected in each of the objectives set out in the Visitor Economy Strategy, which was presented in October 2019. Just a few months after the City of Vienna unveiled its Vienna Tourist Board-led strategy, the coronavirus pandemic triggered the biggest crisis the international tourism industry had ever faced. Many of the approaches that had been adopted during times of growth proved to be every bit as relevant as the capital made its way out of the crisis. As a result, the fundamental principles remained the same, even though some of the quantitative targets that were set before the outbreak of the pandemic were aligned to reflect the change in circumstances.

Six Objectives For Success

Unveiled in 2019, the Vienna Tourist Board’s tourism strategy – named the “Visitor Economy Strategy” to reflect the fact that its focus extends beyond the tourism industry – provided an international benchmark devoted to economic, environmental and social sustainability. The strategy, an updated version of which was presented in spring 2025, set out six key objectives to be achieved by 2025. They were adapted following the outbreak of the pandemic, largely met and in some cases outperformed:

• Net revenue from overnight stays to recover to the pre-pandemic (2018) level of EUR 900 million by 2025. This target was reached and breached in 2023 (total EUR 1.24 billion).
• Direct and indirect induced economic impact from tourism in Vienna to return to pre-crisis levels: EUR 5.6 billion for Austria, of which EUR 4.7 billion contributed by Vienna (2018 totals). Updated calculations from Statistics Austria and WIFO are expected to be published in the course of 2025 – but the latest figures indicate that Vienna is on the right track.
• Ratings in terms of quality of visitor experience (nine out of ten people would recommend Vienna to others) and residents’ attitudes to tourism (nine out of ten see tourism as a positive for Vienna) to be maintained – both objectives had been achieved by the end of 2024.
• Increase the number of hotels and tourist institutions certified in accordance with the Austrian Umweltzeichen or comparable international ecolabel by 25% to 140 by 2025 (2018: 112). The total for 2024 was around 192. 
• Eco-friendly arrivals: the goal was to reverse the proportions of visitors who arrive by car (2018: 26%) and by train (2018: 21%) by 2025. Currently, 24% of visitors arrive by road and 30% by rail: a massive jump (of one third) in the share accounted for by train travel.

You can take a look at the progress report here: 2025 VES Progress Report (only available in German)
The evolution of the previous Visitor Economy Strategy was presented in spring 2025. Further details are available here: https://optimum.vienna.info.

Greater Focus on Added Value and Quality

In 2024, the Vienna Tourist Board actively serviced 12 incoming markets with a marketing budget of EUR 15.3m. In addition to Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Spain, France and Italy, activities in 2024 centered on Canada, the Arab countries, China, Japan and South Korea as well as the USA. In the long-haul segment, the focus of the department’s development work was on the USA, which is Vienna's highest-volume and highest-revenue overseas market.

Membership of international networks such as UN Tourism, the City Destinations Alliance, the World Tourism Cities Federation and the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association is a cornerstone of the Vienna Tourist Board's strategy, as is the Vienna Convention Bureau’s membership of the International Congress and Convention Association and the Professional Convention Management Association, among other organizations.