Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Vienna

  • How the Austrians spent their holidays this year

    How the Austrians spent their holidays this year

    According to Statistics Austria, the number of holiday trips of Austrians with at least one overnight stay (including visits to relatives and friends) was nearly halved this year compared to the first six months of 2019 (-42.7% to 5.59 million).

    The decline is mainly due to the second quarter of 2020 (-61.3%), with domestic trips falling by 27.9% and trips abroad by even 91.2% in this quarter.

    The proportion of people with at least one holiday trip decreased in the first quarter of 2020 by 7.4 percentage points to 30.0%, in the second quarter of 2020 by 26.7 percentage points to 19.8%.

    Half of the trips lead to Italy, Croatia and Germany

    In the first half of 2020, people residing in Austria spent more than three quarters of their holiday trips (76.0% or 4.25 million) in Austria, which was a decrease of 21.8% compared to the first half of 2019. For short holiday trips between one and three overnight stays, the domestic share was 81.4%.

    The number of holiday trips abroad decreased by 69% to 1.34 million in the first half of 2020 (short trips: -58.9%; main trips: -75.2%).

    The decline in holiday trips in the first half of 2020 was particularly marked for popular international destinations like Germany (-60.2%), Hungary (-28.9%), Italy (-86.4%) and Croatia (-79.0%).

    The number of long-distance trips (holiday trips outside Europe and Turkey) decreased by 57.6% to 179.000.

    More than one third of holiday trips to visit family and friends

    Due to Easter, the proportion of visits to relatives and friends during this travel period is traditionally very high and was also the most important travel motive in the first six months of 2020: 38.8% of all holiday trips abroad were made for this reason (first half of 2019: 21.9%), for domestic trips this share was 35.1% (first half of 2019: 32.3%).

    The proportion of free accommodation was correspondingly high: 44.1% of all holiday trips were spent with friends or family or at second homes (first half of 2019: 29.8%), for domestic holiday trips the share was even 45.6%. 40.8% of the holiday trips were spent in hotels or similar establishments.

    Furthermore, travel motives differ depending on the destination: For domestic holiday trips, the second most important travel motive after visiting friends and family was sportive activity holidays (33.1%), 14.1% looked for recreation, 4.2% chose wellness and beauty.

    The main reasons for travelling abroad – apart from visits to family and friends – were cultural trips (20.9%) and sportive activity holidays (9.5%).

    Private car most frequently used for travelling

    In the first half of 2020, the private car was still the most frequently used means of transport for travel: 83.3% of domestic trips and 48.9% of holiday trips abroad were made by car.

    The proportion of vacations for which people travelled by car is thus higher than in the same period of the previous year (77.7% of domestic trips and 43.7% of trips abroad).

    The share of air travel abroad decreased from 37.6% to 33.7%, especially in favor of travelling by car (increase from 43.7% to 48.9%). The number of flights abroad fell by almost three quarters (-72.2%).

  • Austrian tourism revenues fell by 31,7% this year

    Austrian tourism revenues fell by 31,7% this year

    From May to August, tourism revenues in Austria fell by 31.7 percent compared to the previous year, Heute reports.

    The corona crisis has caused massive slumps in Austrian tourism. According to an estimate by the Vienna Economic Research Institute (WIFO), tourism revenues fell by a nominal 31.7 percent to EUR 7.22 billion between May and August compared to the same period of the previous year.

    The biggest drop was in Vienna (minus 81.1 percent) and the lowest in Carinthia (minus 13.7 percent). Styria (minus 17.4 percent) and Burgenland (minus 18.4 percent) recorded a relatively low decline in tourism revenues between May and September.

  • Austrian economy dropped by 12.1% in the second quarter of 2020

    Austrian economy dropped by 12.1% in the second quarter of 2020

    The Austrian gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by 12.1% in volume terms during the second quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2020 and by 14.3% compared to the second quarter of 2019, according to Statistics Austria.

    In 2019, the Austrian economy grew by 1.4%, which means a slowdown in growth dynamics compared to the previous years (2017: +2.4%; 2018: +2.6%).

    Private consumption declined by 12.6% in volume terms compared to the previous quarter (-16.1% compared to Q2/2019), mainly due to the lockdown of leisure services (accommodation, food service, arts and entertainment).

    Consumption of housing (rents, electricity) and food/beverages grew slightly.

    The COVID-19 measures also left their mark in the service sector, with accommodation and food services being most affected.

    They recorded a decline of 65.2% in volume terms compared to the first quarter of 2020 (-61.1% compared to Q2/2019). As expected, arts, entertainment and recreation also suffered losses (-27.0% in volume terms compared to Q1/2020; -35.3% compared to Q2/2019).

    In total, each economic activity recorded negative volume growth in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter in 2020.

    Real estate activities (-0.7% in volume terms compared to Q1/2020; +2.2% compared to Q2/2019), health and public administration (-0.5% in volume terms compared to Q1/2020; -0.6% compared to Q2/2019) as well as information and communication (-1.3% in volume terms compared to Q1/2020; +1.1% compared to Q2/2019) were hardly affected.

    Similar to the development of foreign trade, manufacturing already slowed down in 2019. The lockdown then led to another remarkable slump by 15.6% in terms of volume compared to the first quarter of 2020 (-18.4% compared to Q2/2019).

  • Starting 1 Octomber 2020 Dänisches Bettenlager Austria is Jysk

    Starting 1 Octomber 2020 Dänisches Bettenlager Austria is Jysk

    On 1 October 2020, all Dänisches Bettenlager stores in Austria changed name to Jysk.

    ”By changing the name to Jysk, the Austrian stores will now also benefit from the store concepts and systems. This will be great for both our customers as well as for our employees,” says Jan Bøgh, CEO & President in Jysk.

    Jysk will invest around 200.000 euros in each of the 87 stores in Austria to introduce the new store concept 3.0, which includes woodlook floor instead of carpet, inspiring showrooms and more focus on deco and textiles.

    Jysk is planning to expand with three new stores in Austria during the financial year 2020/21 (1 September 2020 – 31 August 2021).

    After having changed the name of the stores in Austria, only the stores in Germany still carry the Dänisches Bettenlager logo.

  • 11.900 foreign controlled enterprises operated in Austria in 2018

    11.900 foreign controlled enterprises operated in Austria in 2018

    In 2018, 11.900 enterprises in Austria operated under foreign control, according to Statistics Austria. This is 3.8% more than in the year before.

    At the same time, Austrian enterprises had control over 6.000 enterprises abroad, a rise of 0.1% in numbers. Besides Germany, main target for Austrian investments abroad still was the central, eastern and south-eastern region of Europe.

    Although they accounted only for 3.4% of all domestic market enterprises (not including sectors like agriculture, forestry and fishing, education, health, cultural, public and non-profit sector), foreign controlled enterprises in 2018 employed one in five persons employed (21%) and accounted for more than one third (34.5%) of the total turnover in the Austrian market economy.

    74.4% of foreign controlled enterprises in Austria had their corporate headquarters within the European Union.

    By far the most important partner country was Germany, accounting for 39.2% of all cases, followed by Switzerland (11.2%), Italy (5.8%), the UK (4.6%) and the Netherlands as well as the United States (4.5% each).

    Though the number of Austrian affiliates abroad was more or less the same as the year before, their employment rose by 5.5% in 2018.

    Turnover went up by 12.8%, mainly due to the results of multinationals’ oil and raw materials trading entities reported by their Austrian controlling units. 

    But also other activities in the petro-chemical cluster, like manufacture of refined petroleum products, manufacture of chemicals and chemical products, performed very well in 2018.

    Foreign affiliates could mainly be found in Germany (14% of all units or 13% of foreign employment). Ranked by employment shares, Germany was followed by the Czech Republic (9.0%), Hungary (6.9%), Romania (6.5%), the United States (5.2%) and Poland (4.6%).

    65.6% of all foreign affiliates were located in EU countries, reaching a share in foreign employment of 63.8%.

  • One third of Westbahn jobs are in danger to be cut

    One third of Westbahn jobs are in danger to be cut

    At the private Austrian railway company Westbahn, 100 of the 300 jobs appear to be in danger because of the corona crisis, Heute says.

    This will happen if the Ministry of Transport does not provide further financial assistance after the end of the emergency allocation. Due to low demand, the loss of 100 jobs is imminent.

    The information appears in an emotional email sent to staff by Westbahn CEO Erich Forster. He outlined the dramatic situation of the company.

    Westbahn runs the Vienna-Salzburg line a connection where there is usually no financial state support, even for the state railways (ÖBB).

    However, due to the coronavirus crisis, an emergency grant was avaible for this route, but it will expire on 7 October. 

  • Peter Bosek to leave Erste and become CEO of Luminor Bank

    Peter Bosek to leave Erste and become CEO of Luminor Bank

    Erste Bank Oesterreich CEO Peter Bosek announced that, after 24 years at Erste including more than 13 years in various management board positions, he will resign as the bank’s chief executive officer and step down from Erste Group’s managing board.

    Bosek will be taking on the CEO role at Luminor Bank AS in the Baltics. Peter Bosek will remain in his current roles until 31 December 2020.

    Commenting on Peter Bosek’s contribution to Erste, supervisory board chairman Friedrich Roedler said: ”Peter has established Erste Bank as the leading bank in Austria. As a member of Erste Group’s management board, he was also instrumental in consolidating our presence in CEE and establishing Erste as the frontrunner in digital banking across the region”.

  • Austria: Emma and Maximilian were the most popular baby names in 2019

    Austria: Emma and Maximilian were the most popular baby names in 2019

    Emma and Maximilian topped the charts of first names given to newborn babies in Austria, as Statistics Austria reports.

    This result is based on the list of first names in original spelling and without special characters.

    In total, names of 41.372 newborn girls and 43.580 boys were analysed. Parents chose the name Emma 766 times (1.9%) for girls and Maximilian 841 times (1.9%) for boys.

    Emma reached the number one position for the first time since entering the top ten in 2010. Maximilian topped the list for the third time since entering the top ten in 2005.

    Also, Anna and Lukas were the most common names in 2019, both for more than 20 years.

  • Rising housing costs causing concern for Austrians

    Rising housing costs causing concern for Austrians

    Austrians consider the trends in housing costs to be much more problematic, says an survey by IMAS International, conducted on behalf of Erste Bank.

    Forty-nine per cent of the 900 interviewees have already found costs over the last five years to have ”risen somewhat”, while 19 per cent have found them to have ”risen a lot”.

    Only a third of study participants found that not to be so.

    While 77 per cent of Austrians considered housing ”affordable”/”very affordable” in the 1980s, that figure is now only 25 per cent.

    Barely 18 per cent think housing will still be affordable in 2030.

    Income not rising as fast as property prices

    While the actual wages of Austrians have, according to the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (Wifo), only risen by 4.9 per cent since 2015, rent prices, according to the ECB’s consumer price index, have shot up by 15 per cent.

    They have indeed become a whopping 27 per cent more expensive in the same time period.

    The coronavirus pandemic had a noticeable impact on Austrians’ housing-related desires. While 59 per cent wanted to change their housing situation in February, that figure had dropped to 54 per cent by June.

    Austrians still want their own house

    The pandemic sparked a notable 7% rise in those wanting to buy their own home, particularly among 18 to 34-year-olds, between February and June 2020.

    Twelve per cent of people want to renovate, eleven per cent want to modify their outdoor areas (+3 per cent compared to the start of the year) and eleven percent want to buy their own home (+5%).

  • OMV revises oil price assumptions

    OMV revises oil price assumptions

    OMV, the international oil and gas company headquartered in Vienna, has reduced its Brent oil price planning assumptions. 

    The long-term Brent oil price assumptions are now reduced to USD 60/bbl real, compared to USD 75/bbl applied before.

    For 2021, the company expects a continued macroeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and confirms its oil price forecast of USD 50/bbl. 

    The oil price expectations for 2022 and 2023 are reduced to now USD 60/bbl from USD 70/bbl and USD 75/bbl, respectively. 

    For the years 2024 to 2029, OMV assume a Brent oil price of USD 65/bbl (before USD 75/bbl), which is expected to gradually decline to USD 60/bbl until 2035. 

    From 2035 onwards, OMV use a Brent oil price of USD 60/bbl.

    All assumptions for the years 2025 onwards are based on 2025 real terms. 

    The updated price planning assumptions are expected to result in non-cash net impairments of around EUR 600 mn post-tax in the third quarter results, net of minor impairment reversals.

    The impairments in Upstream are approximately equally ascribed to tangible assets and write-offs of exploration intangibles. 

  • Airport City Vienna Office Park 4 building opened its doors

    Airport City Vienna Office Park 4 building opened its doors

    Office Park 4 officially opened its doors. Accordingly, Airport City Vienna has further expanded by an additional 26.000 sq m of office and conference space directly next to the airport tower.

    The first tenants have already moved into Office Park 4 and come from a wide range of sectors.

    The companies include BR International Consulting Services (specialist logistics company for rail transport), the world’s largest innovation platform Plug and Play from California, the international air and ocean freight forwarder C.H. Robinson and the bilingual kindergarten Luftikus.

    Office Park 4 extends over ten floors. Depending on specific needs, the office areas can be flexibly rented in sizes between 180 sq m and 2,700 sq m per floor.

    Two floors of event space and showrooms covering an area of 1,200 sq m are a special highlight.

    The new pedestrian bridge located directly over the airport entry road directly connects the premises of Office Park 4 with Car Park 3, Terminal 1 as well as the public transportation City Airport Train Vienna (CAT) and the suburban railway train.

    Office Park 4 is heated and cooled with thermal energy. For this reason, a total of 450 energy piles were installed in the ground, and about 39 kilometres of geothermal pipes were laid.

    Flughafen Wien AG invested about € 60 million in this new construction project.

  • Austria: balance of trade deficit at €0.12 bn in June 2020

    Austria: balance of trade deficit at €0.12 bn in June 2020

    The value of imports of goods was at €11.61 bn in June 2020, a decrease of 5.1% compared to June 2019, as Statistics Austria reports.

    The strongest decrease was recorded with Germany.

    At the same time, exports of goods decreased by 5.4% to €11.49 bn, with Italy and Hungary particularly affected.

    The balance of trade thus showed a deficit of €0.12 bn.

    In the period January to June 2020, total imports amounted to €69.65 bn and total exports added up to €68.51 bn, according to preliminary results by Statistics Austria.

    Compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, Austrian imports decreased by 13.0% and Austrian exports declined by 11.7%.

    The global ITGS balance (Austrian International Trade in Goods Statistics balance) showed a deficit of €1.14 bn.