Europe - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2012 - 70 Euro Cent

The theme of this year's EUROPA brands, set by "Posteurop", the Association of European Postal Companies, is "Visit ...". The Austrian Post AG has come up with something very special: a brand block, whose attractive motif shows the most famous sights of our country - the St. Stephen's Cathedral in the heart of Vienna as a great background image, the imposing Hohensalzburg Fortress and the clock tower in Graz, in outline illustrations as well as the popular Ferris wheel in the Vienna Prater as the actual brand image. Tourism is a very important economic sector in Austria, but the conditions for flourishing tourism are also present to a high degree: near-natural mountain and lake landscapes, numerous cultural monuments and interesting cities as well as well-developed infrastructure. In addition, the central location in Europe and the easy accessibility are advantageous - as a result, tourism in Austria is evenly distributed over the summer and winter seasons. The city tourism primarily comprises the federal capital Vienna and the eight provincial capitals, above all, as the brand block motive makes clear, Salzburg and Graz. It is interesting that travelers in cities are usually much shorter than in rural tourist resorts, but spend on average per day on average more money than other Austrian guests. The purposes of the visit range from relatives or acquaintances visiting and leisure and cultural tourism during leisure time to paid by the employer participation in congresses, fairs and corporate meetings. In the most frequented cities, the proportion of guests arriving by plane is much larger than in the whole of Austria, and the mix of nations is correspondingly more diverse there. Current figures are praising local tourism and hoteliers, as Austria once again recorded a record number of guests last year. 34.6 million arrivals meant an increase of 3.7 percent. With the exception of 2009 (keyword "international economic crisis"), the number of guests has risen since 1998 without interruption. The number of domestic visitors rose by 2 per cent to 11.6 million in 2011, that of foreign visitors by 4.6 per cent to 23 million. Overnight stays increased by 0.9 percent to 126 million, the fifth highest overnight stay ever recorded. According to the most recent tourism study (source: Statistics Austria), 25 percent of arrivals and 14 percent of all overnight stays in Austria in the previous year were accounted for by the provincial capitals.