With 3.2 million overnight stays, more tourists stayed overnight in Innsbruck last year than ever before, as the latest tourist statistics show. Innsbruck, the biggest city in the Alps, is now second to Vienna in Austria. One reason for this, according to Christian Mayerhofer, CEO of Congress Messe Innsbruck (CMI), is the strong MICE sector.
According to Statistik Austria’s most recent survey, Austrian tourism continued to grow by 4.2% in the summer season from May to October 2017. With 74.87 million overnight stays, Austria achieved its best result since 1993 (77.4 million). The undisputed leader is the Province of Tyrol with more than 21 million overnight stays in summer, with its capital Innsbruck recording a new record of 3.2 million overnight stays for the full year. Innsbruck comes second after Vienna in the ranking of Austrian cities.
Christian Mayerhofer, CEO of Congress Messe Innsbruck (CMI), confirms that the MICE sector is contributing to this success with the wide range of cultural, sporting and leisure activities in the Olympic region. He states that major international associations and companies value Innsbruck very highly as a trade fair and conference destination, commenting that Innsbruck is able to maintain its position as a top destination and compares favorably with international competition, not least because of its unique combination of mountain scenery and urban landscape, the short distances and excellent air, road and rail links. He is very pleased that the Congress Messe Innsbruck is an important player in tourism in Innsbruck and Tyrol and is able contribute to the development of the city as a popular destination.
In the spring of 2017 INTERALPIN, the world’s leading trade fair for alpine technologies, alone drew visitors and exhibitors from more than 85 countries to the city. As Mayerhofer explains, Innsbruck and the surrounding communities were virtually fully booked on the three days of the fair. The congress business has also had a strong presence in CMI premises in recent months. The CMI CEO reports that Congress Messe Innsbruck clearly reinforced its appeal on the international conference scene with the major congresses of the European Society of Thoracic Surgery (ESTS) and the International Society for Diabetes in Childhood and Adolescence (ISPAD). Around 3,000 participants from all over the world traveled to Innsbruck for the two congresses.
In addition to the trade fairs and congresses, numerous international seminars, conferences and corporate events also played their part in attracting large numbers of visitors to the city. Werner Verocai, CMI procurator, reports that the Cutting Pro Competition run by Tyrolit, a major manufacturer of abrasives, the Shell RED conference, road shows by companies such as UNIQA, Opel and Munich Airport, and the Partylite National Conference with around 1,000 participants are all good examples of the special conference highlights that contributed to positive overnight stay statistics. Whether the winter season which has enjoyed a very strong start can once again beat Tyrol’s record last winter (over 26 million overnight stays, Landesstatistik Tirol), will be seen by April at the latest.
