Salzburg seeks to sustain record winter tourism levels

Salzburg hopes to match last winter’s record of 16.05 million overnight stays, ORF reported, as it prepares for the coming tourism season.

The 2025/26 winter season ended with a 3.1 percent increase in overnight stays compared with the previous winter. Leo Bauernberger, head of the SalzburgerLand Tourism Company, said the region wanted to maintain that level and increase occupancy at tourism businesses during the quieter parts of the season.

The company is investing five million euros in promoting winter holidays in Salzburg this season. Bauernberger said he was confident the region could maintain its position as a winter sports destination over the long term. While the Alpine market is largely saturated, the number of skiers is growing in other parts of the world, he said.

The 2024/25 winter season set a record with 400 million ski visits, meaning first entries to ski areas. Bauernberger said the international ski sector was growing, with an estimated 150 million potential skiers worldwide.

Salzburg also recorded growth in summer tourism. From May to August, the state saw 11.75 million overnight stays, up 2.8 percent. Overnight stays by visitors from Arab countries fell by about 30 percent amid the geopolitical situation, while those from the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel rose by double digits.

Overnight stays by Austrian visitors increased by 2.2 percent and those by German visitors by 2 percent, Bauernberger said. He said Salzburg’s broad range of source markets had proved beneficial again.