Heat drives surge in Upper Austria outdoor pool visitors

Extreme temperatures have brought significantly more visitors to outdoor pools across Upper Austria, according to a survey of several facilities by ORF Upper Austria. The Erlebnisbad Ostermiething adventure pool in the Braunau district has recorded about 60 percent more guests than during the same period last year.

The hot and dry summer has filled sunbathing areas and increased admissions at many pools. Wolfgang Pfeil, a lifeguard at Ostermiething, said visitors were glad to be able to swim and had taken advantage of the facility.

The sharp increase is partly explained by last year’s weather, which included many rainy days and significantly fewer visitors.

The Solarbad Altmünster outdoor pool on Lake Traunsee in the Gmunden district has also seen a clear difference. Managing director Eleonore Schütze said last year brought 62 rainy days, while this year had already recorded 67 sunny and swimming days. Visitor numbers were about 30 percent higher than last year, also because of the many tourists, she said.

The Aqaro adventure pool in Rohrbach-Berg in the Mühlviertel has recorded up to 20 percent more admissions since the season began in May, according to its operators.

The season has also gone well at Linz’s outdoor pools. Operator Linz AG said about 15 percent more visitors came between May and the end of July than during the same period last year.

The highest daily figures in Linz were recorded in June. On June 28, more than 5,000 people visited the Parkbad. The Hummelhofbad recorded nearly 3,000 visitors that day, while the Erlebnisoase Schörgenhub had about 2,700, both facilities’ highest daily totals so far.

Many outdoor pools are scheduled to remain open until early September. Some may extend their opening periods if the warm weather continues.