Hotellerie 2026:

Hotels at full occupancy, cautious optimism

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Prodinger describes the starting situation as “paradoxical”: stable demand and solid occupancy meet with restraint in economic assessment. According to the study, there is a structural reason for this. The issue does not lie with the guest side, but with a revenue and cost logic that has evolved over years and comes into effect simultaneously in 2026.

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The consequence is far-reaching: 2026 is not seen as the start of a new growth cycle, but as a year of strategic decisions - with a call to not only optimize existing models, but to consciously realign them.

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Winter under pressure: From earnings anchor to financial risk

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The structural shift is particularly visible in winter tourism. The study describes an unusually early start to the 2025/26 season, while also highlighting how fragile the business model has become at lower and mid-altitudes: a pronounced föhn wind event severely hampered snowmaking operations. At the same time, the costs for reliable base snow are rising, while planning security is decreasing.

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According to Prodinger, this shifts the dependency on winter from an operational risk to a financial one: credit decisions, eligibility for subsidies, and investor interest will increasingly be linked to climatic resilience, season distribution, and cash-flow stability.

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Seasonal value creation is also becoming more concentrated: economically, it is increasingly focused on January and February, while March is turning into a problem month for many businesses - regardless of snow conditions or Easter timing. In response, the analysis outlines two directions: significantly stronger marketing of March (and, at higher altitudes, April) as a winter sports period, or a strategic expansion of offerings beyond the traditional ski focus.

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Summer is growing, but the cost logic often doesn't add up

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While winter is becoming less reliable, summer is growing significantly in volume. In many alpine regions, overnight stays are clearly above 2019 levels, according to the study. Yet economically, less often remains for operators.

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Prodinger explains this with a structural imbalance: many businesses are still shaped by a “winter DNA” - their properties, service levels, and staffing models are tailored to the profitable winter season and are oversized for the summer months, which have lower average rates and more fluctuating occupancy. The result is a structural loss of margins despite rising overnight stays.

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A look at revenue metrics underlines this finding: nominal revenue per overnight stay has increased from just under €183 in 2017 to over €226 in 2025. Adjusted for inflation, however, it has fallen to around €131 - the study notes that the sector has lost roughly a third of its real value creation since 2017.

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Costs, inflation, and labor: easing - but with a delay

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For 2025, the analysis cites a price increase of around 3.5 percent. From 2026 onwards, a noticeable easing is expected: due to base effects, inflation is likely to fall to about 2.4 percent, accompanied by greater planning certainty and more stable cost ratios - particularly from the second half of 2026.

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On the cost side, however, the labor market remains the biggest challenge. According to the study, personnel costs - including ancillary wage costs - now account for over 36 percent of operating revenue in many businesses.

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Budget is the new smart: Operational excellence beats staging

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Prodinger sees a clear change on the supply side: budget, economy, and boutique/lifestyle concepts are proving to be significantly more profitable. At the same time, competition is shifting away from staging experiences and toward operational excellence.

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According to the study, the following will be particularly honored in 2026:
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• functional, modern rooms
  
  
• clear product core
  
  
• professional operation without over-staging
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The result: clarity becomes a management task

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Ultimately, the study paints a clear picture: 2026 is not a year for small-scale adjustments or cosmetic corrections. The Alpine hotel industry faces the task of fundamentally questioning existing models and realigning them. The decisive factors are not size, location, or tradition, but strategic clarity, operational discipline, and the ability to consciously reduce.

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This classification comes from the Markt- und Trendreport Hotellerie Österreich 2026 itself. The following considerations are derived from it editorially and are not part of the study.

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From a practical perspective, the required clarity means one thing above all else: economic relationships must become visible earlier. When financing, seasonal logic, and cash flow stability become more important, looking at retrospective evaluations is no longer sufficient. Businesses need tools in their day-to-day operations that structure relationships, highlight deviations, and prepare decisions.

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In this context, systems such as profitize can provide support by bundling financial information from different sources and presenting it in an understandable way. Not as a substitute for business decisions, but as a basis for creating the strategic clarity that the study describes as crucial for 2026.

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Source:

Markt- und Trendreport Hotellerie Österreich 2026, Prodinger Tourismusberatung (Thomas Reisenzahn & Marco Riederer). 

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