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Vienna records new high in overnight stays

The Local Austria
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Vienna records new high in overnight stays
Vienna's Natural History museum and parliament. Photo: APA/Roland Schlager

Vienna has hit a new all-time high for the number of tourists staying overnight. A total of six million overnight stays were recorded in the period from January to June 2014, 5.8% more than in the same period of 2013.

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"Vienna has once again convincingly demonstrated its tourist attraction in the first half of 2014, with an increase of 5.8% to some six million visitor overnights," said Norbert Kettner, Director of the Vienna Tourist Board.

Vienna's ten main markets in the first half of 2014 were once again headed by Germany with 1,213,000 overnights (+6% on the same period the previous year), followed by Austria (1,157,000, +4%), Russia (322,000, -12%), the USA (319,000, +16%), and Italy (289,000, +18%).

Places 6 to 10 were taken by the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Spain, and Japan.

Vienna also recorded particularly strong growth compared to 2013 from China (97,000 overnights, +19%) and South Korea (67,000, +27%).

International guests accounted for around 81% of Vienna's total volume of overnight stays.

The average room occupancy of Vienna's hotels in the first half-year was around 65%.

The Austrian capital now has an accommodation capacity of around 64,000 beds.

However, the rest of the country did not fare as well, recording fewer overnight stays than last year. "For a long time we've been demanding a new marketing strategy - and this demand is becoming more intense," said hospitality trade association chairman Klaus Ennemoser. 

A lack of winter snow and the excitement surrounding the World Cup were two factors blamed for the decline in visitor numbers. 

Vienna currently occupies first place worldwide in the latest Mercer Quality of Living survey, whilst as a convention metropolis both the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and the Union of International Associations (UIA) ranked Vienna as the world's number three for its international meetings in 2013.

London is the most popular city for overnight stays, followed by Paris, and Berlin

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