Tourism in Austria: Grand Hotels to Guesthouses

For more than 150 years tourism has been a key industry in Austria. Tourism in Austria, and particularly in Tyrol has a long and colourful history, shaped by the same mountains and valleys that greet visitors today.

It all began in earnest during the mid-19th century. Before that, the Alps were viewed as wild, dangerous, and frankly impractical for travel unless you were a farmer, a herder, or perhaps a foolhardy adventurer. Then came Romanticism: poets and painters swooned over jagged peaks and untamed landscapes. Wealthy Europeans, especially from Britain and Germany, began to see the mountains not as a barrier but as a destination.

Tyrol was blessed — or depending on your perspective, cursed — with beauty, and soon, with railways. The Arlberg Railway, opened in 1884, carved its way through previously inaccessible valleys. Suddenly, genteel travellers could arrive without the bone-rattling discomfort of days in a carriage. Grand hotels began to sprout in towns like Innsbruck, Seefeld, and St. Anton, each promising fresh air, restorative walks, and hearty alpine fare.

The early tourism boom focused on Sommerfrische, a German word for “summer retreat.” Well-to-do families would spend weeks in alpine villages, convinced that mountain air cured everything from melancholy to tuberculosis. Health spas offering mineral waters and mud baths flourished.

Then winter tourism arrived — almost by accident. In the early 20th century, locals in Arlberg began experimenting with skis as a way to get around in deep snow. The sport caught the attention of visiting aristocrats and adventurers. Ski clubs were formed; ski schools followed. By the 1920s, Arlberg was on the map as one of the cradles of modern alpine skiing.

Today, tourism in Austria is a careful balancing act. The same valleys that host 5-star spa hotels still shelter family-run guesthouses. High-tech gondolas whisk skiers up to glacier slopes while cows still graze in the same meadows each summer. The industry is huge — a vital part of the economy — but it still relies on a simple truth: people come to Austria because it makes them feel alive.