Winter tourism is highly concentrated by destination and month. Austria recorded 72.25 million overnight stays in November 2024–April 2025, while Switzerland recorded 18.7 million in November 2025–April 2026. In Lapland, December 2024 hotel occupancy reached 82%, and the average room cost EUR 282. These figures show why timing, geography, and source markets matter when planning a winter trip.
Contents
- Austria’s winter tourism scale
- Where Austrian winter demand comes from
- Switzerland’s latest winter hotel results
- Lapland demand, occupancy, and prices
- How strongly winter demand is concentrated
- EU benchmarks for seasonal planning
Austria’s winter tourism scale
Austria’s November 2024–April 2025 winter season produced 72.25 million overnight stays in accommodation establishments and 20.55 million arrivals. Overnight stays increased 1.6% from November 2023–April 2024, while arrivals rose 2.8%. The figures come from Statistics Austria’s report, “Tourism winter season 2024/25 with 72 million nights spent”.
The latest result was close to Austria’s earlier high. The 72.25 million nights in November 2024–April 2025 were just below the 72.92 million recorded in November 2018–April 2019. That comparison is a historical benchmark, not a new independent verification of the earlier season.
Resident guests generated 16.50 million overnight stays in winter 2024/25, compared with 55.75 million from non-residents. Non-resident arrivals reached 14.63 million, up 3.5% year on year, while resident arrivals reached 5.92 million, up 1.2%. The difference indicates how strongly Austria’s winter accommodation market depends on international visitors during this measurement period.
The preceding season provides useful context. Austria recorded 71.12 million overnight stays and 19.99 million arrivals in November 2023–April 2024. Overnight stays rose 2.6% from the previous winter and arrivals rose 5.5%. However, overnight stays were 2.5% below November 2018–April 2019, and arrivals were 2.1% below the 20.41 million recorded in that pre-pandemic winter. These historical comparisons are reported figures from Statistics Austria’s 2023/24 winter tourism report, rather than independently rechecked legacy data.
| Austria winter measure | November 2023–April 2024 | November 2024–April 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight stays | 71.12 million | 72.25 million |
| Arrivals | 19.99 million | 20.55 million |
| Resident overnight stays | 16.26 million | 16.50 million |
| Non-resident overnight stays | 54.86 million | 55.75 million |
For trip planning, the figures point to a large, internationally oriented winter market that was still expanding in the latest reported season, although the overnight total remained slightly below the 2018/19 record.
Where Austrian winter demand comes from
Winter tourism in Austria is geographically concentrated. Tyrol and Salzburg together recorded 41.86 million overnight stays, or 57.9% of Austria’s November 2024–April 2025 total. In the preceding winter, the same two provinces recorded 41.57 million nights, or 58.5% of the national total. The comparable figures are reported by Statistics Austria and Statistics Austria’s 2023/24 report.
Vienna moved differently from the Alpine concentration: its overnight stays increased 10.3% year on year in winter 2024/25. That makes the capital a notable part of Austria’s winter picture even though Tyrol and Salzburg together supplied most national nights.
The largest source markets were also concentrated. Guests from Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands supplied 49.23 million overnight stays in winter 2024/25, equal to 68% of the national total. German guests alone generated 25.90 million nights, down 1.1% year on year, while Dutch guests generated 6.83 million, up 2.5%.
The prior winter was similar. Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands together accounted for 49.13 million Austrian winter overnight stays. German guests supplied 26.21 million nights, equal to 48.2% of non-resident nights, and the Netherlands supplied 6.67 million, 0.5% fewer than in the prior winter. Other markets grew more quickly: U.S. visitors generated 842,900 nights, up 13.3%, while Polish visitors generated 1.502 million, up 7.5%.
Month selection is important. January and February accounted for 33.21 million nights, or 46.0% of Austria’s winter 2024/25 total. In winter 2023/24, the two months accounted for 33.99 million nights, or 47.8%. December 2024 alone recorded 12.66 million nights, up 10.9% from December 2023. The result suggests that a winter itinerary centered on January and February is aligned with the busiest part of Austria’s reported season, while December has its own strong demand pattern.
Switzerland’s latest winter hotel results
Swiss hotels recorded 18.7 million overnight stays in November 2025–April 2026, up 1.1% year on year. Domestic demand reached 9.5 million nights, up 1.6%, and international demand reached 9.3 million, up 0.5%. These figures are from the Swiss government’s “Tourism: record winter season for hotels”.
The season was uneven by month. Swiss hotel demand rose 5.9% in December 2025 and fell 5.7% in March 2026, each compared with the corresponding prior-year month. A single winter total therefore hides meaningful variation in when visitors arrived.
European visitors accounted for 62.6% of Switzerland’s international winter hotel overnight stays and generated 5.8 million nights, up 1.8%. Visitors from the Americas produced a record 1.8 million nights, up 5.5%. U.S. visitors recorded their best Swiss winter hotel result in 30 years, increasing 4.5%, or 52,000 nights.
Asian visitors moved in the opposite direction. They generated 1.4 million Swiss hotel overnight stays in winter 2025/26, down 10.1% year on year. Across the country, ten of Switzerland’s thirteen tourism regions increased hotel overnight stays. Ticino recorded 7.2% growth, equivalent to 49,000 additional hotel nights.
For travelers comparing Alpine destinations, Switzerland’s results show a broadly balanced domestic-international split in absolute overnight volume, alongside different regional and long-haul market trends. The source reports the 2025/26 season; it should not be treated as a forecast for a later winter.
Lapland demand, occupancy, and prices
Finland’s December 2024 accommodation data show how intense winter demand can become in Lapland. Finnish accommodation establishments recorded 1.88 million overnight stays in December 2024, up 4% from December 2023. Resident tourist nights reached 0.98 million, down 5%, while non-resident nights reached 0.90 million, up 16%.
Lapland’s international demand was especially prominent. The region recorded 0.52 million non-resident overnight stays in December 2024, up 9% year on year. Resident overnight stays reached 0.07 million, down 20%. These measures and the following price figures come from Statistics Finland’s Lapland accommodation release, which covers December 2024.
Hotel room occupancy also separated Lapland from the national average. Lapland reached 82% in December 2024, compared with 49% across Finland. The average Lapland hotel-room price was EUR 282, EUR 40 higher than a year earlier. The average hotel-room price across Finland was EUR 150.
| December 2024 accommodation measure | Lapland | Finland |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel room occupancy | 82% | 49% |
| Average hotel-room price | EUR 282 | EUR 150 |
The price comparison is descriptive rather than a like-for-like comparison of every property type. It does show the planning effect of peak winter demand: Lapland’s reported average room price was EUR 132 above the Finnish average, while occupancy was 33 percentage points higher.
How strongly winter demand is concentrated
Regional seasonality varies widely across Europe. In 39 of 244 EU NUTS 2 regions with data, more than 40% of annual tourism nights occurred in the two busiest months in 2024. The EU average share in the two busiest months was 31%. These figures are from Eurostat’s “Tourism statistics – seasonality at regional level”.
Some regions have a distinctly winter-led peak. February was the busiest month in five EU regions in 2024, including Tyrol, Salzburg, and Vorarlberg in Austria. In contrast, Yugozapaden in Bulgaria recorded 21% of annual tourism nights in its top two months, January and February. The figures make clear that “winter destination” does not mean the same degree of concentration everywhere.
For Austria, the national January-February shares were 46.0% in winter 2024/25 and 47.8% in winter 2023/24 when measured against the respective November–April totals. Those are winter-season shares, while the Eurostat regional benchmark describes the share of annual nights; the scopes should not be merged.
EU benchmarks for seasonal planning
Eurostat’s broader accommodation seasonality analysis offers a useful baseline for thinking about off-peak travel. EU tourist accommodation recorded 139 million overnight stays in January 2025, the lowest monthly total reported in that analysis. In August 2025, accommodation recorded 501 million nights, equal to 16% of the annual total. July and August together accounted for 31% of all EU tourist-accommodation overnight stays and 26% of annual arrivals in 2025. See Eurostat’s “Seasonality in the tourist accommodation sector”.
National patterns can be much sharper than the EU-wide average. Croatia recorded 55% of its 2025 tourist-accommodation nights in its two dominant months. Its peak-to-low monthly overnight-stay ratio was 41.1, compared with 20.5 in Greece. These are annual 2025 measures and are not winter-specific occupancy or price statistics.
Taken together, the benchmarks support a practical planning distinction. Alpine areas such as Tyrol and Salzburg can have their strongest regional month in February, while Lapland’s December figures show high occupancy and elevated prices. Elsewhere in Europe, the annual peak may be concentrated in summer, making the winter period comparatively quieter. Travelers should therefore compare the destination’s measured peak months, source markets, and accommodation indicators rather than assume that every European winter trip follows the same demand curve.