The survey on tourism acceptance aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the Austrian resident population’s attitude towards tourism. Tourism acceptance is defined by factors such as the perceived impact and importance of tourism, the perceived number of tourists, and individuals’ professional or financial dependence on the tourism sector. The tourism acceptance score reflects the net perception of tourist’s effects on one’s place of residence – calculated as the difference between positively and negatively perceived impacts - aggregated and compared on a national level.
Tourism acceptance is surveyed quarterly as a supplementary component of the survey on the travel behaviour of Austria’s resident population, with results published annually. These insights support the evaluation of tourism’s social sustainability and serve as an essential foundation for tourism policy-making.
The measurement of tourism acceptance is represents a key socio-cultural pillar within broader sustainability assessments in tourism and is recommended at the international level, notably by UN Tourism in its Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism.