The number of employees in Austria’s tourism sector has recently increased, surpassing both pre-crisis figures and last year’s levels. In November, there were 200,542 non-self-employed employees—a rise of three percent compared to 2019 and 0.7 percent compared to 2023. By the end of November 2024, 116,080 employees in tourism were from abroad, accounting for 58 percent of the workforce. Of these foreign employees, 58 percent originated from EU member states, Economic Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) reported on Thursday.

“From January to November 2024, 2,595 Red-White-Red (RWR) visas were issued for tourism workers. In the entire year of 2023, there were 1,064 visas issued, and in 2022, before the major reform, only 348. Additionally, we have recently increased the seasonal quota for third-country nationals by 490 places, bringing the total seasonal work quota to 4,985 positions. Furthermore, a 50 percent overrun is permissible during the high season,” Kocher stated in a press release.

Tourism State Secretary Susanne Kraus-Winkler highlighted a survey conducted by the Austrian Economic Chamber, which found that 93 percent of employees consider tourism an attractive employer, and 72 percent would reapply to their current employer. She also reminded stakeholders of the latest collective agreement increase, which will raise the minimum salary to €2,000 gross starting in May 2025.