670,000 overnight stays

Salzburg is the third most popular camping destination

Symbolic: The camping site at the popular Electric Love Festival

(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Vacations in Austria continue to be popular with campers - as shown by the camping figures for the 2024 summer season: according to Statistics Austria, Austrian campsites and pitches recorded a total of around 6.3 million overnight stays from June to September 2024 inclusive.

August was a particularly busy month for camping in Austria: 2.4 million overnight stays were recorded in this month alone. August 2024 was therefore the strongest camping month - also in comparison to previous years.

Slight decline due to heavy rain in summer
The summer camping season was once again a success this year - although there was a slight decline in overnight stays compared to the previous year 2023. "The drop of around 4.3 percent can be explained by heavy rain and flooding in September, among other things. The figures also show that there were significantly fewer German campers on Austrian campsites in June - this is probably due to the European Football Championships, but may also be due to the weather. Among our own circle of friends and within the camping community, however, we noticed that many people tended to camp in Germany in June to watch a European Championship match on site," explains Tomas Mehlmauer, President of the Austrian Camping Club (ÖCC).

Carinthia and Tyrol in the lead, Salzburg in third place
Camping was most popular in Carinthia (2,226,134 overnight stays). Tyrol is in second place with 1,575,260 overnight stays. Salzburg (669,161) took third place, followed by Styria (503,283). Upper Austria recorded 410,279 overnight stays and Burgenland 388,420. Vorarlberg recorded 280,969 overnight stays, Lower Austria 227,277 and Vienna 61,082. (Source: Statistics Austria).

Most holidaymakers at Austria's campsites come from Germany (43 percent). Austrians (27 percent) are the second largest group, followed by campers from the Netherlands (16 percent).

Camping in fall and winter too - tips for the cold season
But camping is not only popular in summer - many campers also use the fall and winter for a vacation close to nature. They are usually tempted by lower prices and more peace and quiet at the campsite. "If you want to camp in the fall and winter, you should pay particular attention to the waterproofness and wind resistance of the tent so that you can continue on stormy and wet days," says the camping expert.

On cooler days, the heating will already be turned up in the camping vehicle. "It's important to keep the heating constantly on a low setting and not let the motorhome or caravan cool down completely in between, otherwise you'll use too much energy," advises the ÖCC expert. And the best heating is useless if the camping vehicle is not sufficiently insulated - so this point should be clarified in advance, especially when renting a vehicle.

More information and tips on camping in the cold season, as well as benefits for ÖCC members, can be found atwww.campingclub.at.