Visitors in Hallstatt

Numbers as before Corona, but Chinese “missing”

Hallstatt is very famous in Asia, which attracts tourists.

(Bild: Marion Hörmandinger)

Hallstatt and Chinese tourists - before Corona, they were inextricably linked. One pandemic later, the picture has changed somewhat. Crowds of tourists continue to flock to the picturesque town, but there are far fewer guests from China.

East Asian guests are gradually returning, but more slowly than expected, which is probably also due to bureaucratic hurdles in China. Instead, more visitors are coming from India, the Arab world, the USA and Europe, as Mayor Alexander Scheutz (SPÖ) reports. Tourism advertising is focused entirely on Europe.

Passports have expired
The Chinese and Japanese guests are "not really" back in Hallstatt and the surrounding area, says Christian Schirlbauer from the Holiday Region Dachstein Salzkammergut to the APA - individual tourists are the most likely, but hardly any groups. According to his information, this is probably due to the fact that Chinese passports have expired following the coronavirus lockdowns and people there are waiting months for a new document. Instead, an increasing number of guests have come from South Korea and India.

Mayor Alexander Scheutz wants to limit the masses of tourists.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Guests even without advertising
However, there is no advertising in any of these markets, so the focus is on Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Overall, overnight stays are almost back to pre-corona levels - 1.058 million overnight stays in 2019 compared to around 1.042 million in 2023, and this year, thanks to a good winter and the Capital of Culture year, at least as many are expected as in 2019 - despite the hesitant Asian tourists.

10,000 visitors a day
Around one million day visitors, including many from Southeast Asia, used to visit the picturesque World Heritage community in the Upper Austrian Salzkammergut region every year. On some days, 10,000 visitors would crowd through the narrow streets, which was detrimental to the privacy of the 750 or so locals. Hallstatt therefore introduced a slot system even before Corona. This has proven its worth: 54 buses per day are allowed to come, and they are fully booked for the near future, says Mayor Alexander Scheutz. However, there are no statistics on the nationalities of the passengers.

Guests who stay longer are more popular
In general, however, his observations coincide with Schirlbauer's figures: according to Scheutz, only around 40 percent of Chinese groups have returned so far, "but many South Koreans, Indians, people from the Arab world and from Europe". And the fact that Hallstatt favors American and European guests as well as longer-stay visitors is nothing new.

Tourism experts point out that travel from Southeast Asia to Austria has also become more expensive - on the one hand due to the general price increase and currency developments, and on the other hand because planes have to make detours due to the war in Ukraine.