South Tyrol's hotel industry ahead of the 2025 summer season

South Tyrol's tourism remains in demand — but under pressure
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The economic researchers from the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce report in the latest WIFO Monthly Report (April 2025) from continued strong demand for tourism, which, however, cannot hide structural challenges. In the first five months of the 2024/25 winter season — i.e. from November 2024 to March 2025 — over 12.5 million overnight stays were counted. This represents a slight decline of 0.9% compared to the previous year.
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The changes in origin patterns are striking:

• Overnight stays by German guests fell by 7.8%,
  
  
• Italian guests recorded a decline of 2.7%,
  
  
• Visitors from other countries rose by 10.4%.
  
  

According to WIFO, these fluctuations are largely due to the different dates of Easter holidays compared to the previous year. While the WIFO report shows a slight decline over the entire winter season, according to the State Institute for Statistics (ASTAT) a significant surge in demand — due to late Easter and the associated travel impetus.
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According to ASTAT, South Tyrol recorded a strong increase in tourism in April 2025. With 414,375 arrivals (+25.2%) and 1,616,189 overnight stays (+23.7%), the figures were significantly higher than in April of the previous year. A major driver was late Easter, which resulted in higher travel volumes.
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South Tyrol remained particularly popular among German guests, who accounted for 62.1% of overnight stays. This is followed by Italian guests with 13.2% and Swiss and Liechtensteiners with 9.3%. Regionally, 37.7% of all overnight stays were spent at the Burggrafenamt — 98,564 overnight stays were counted in Merano alone.
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However, experts stress that due to public holidays (Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Corpus Christi), a slight decline is expected in May 2025.
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At the same time, operational reality remains demanding:

• Bookings are made faster than ever,
  
  
• The shortage of skilled workers is worsening once again,
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• Costs in the areas of energy, personnel and use of goods continue to rise significantly.

What does this mean specifically for South Tyrol's hotel industry?
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The combination of stable demand and increasing uncertainty requires new approaches to business management. South Tyrol's hotels must not only operate more efficiently, but also react more agilely to changes.
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A look at the South Tyrol 2030+ tourism strategy shows that the future clearly lies in Quality tourism instead of mass tourism. At the same time, the requirements for sustainability, transparency and strategic action are increasing — not only from guests, but also from politicians.
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A market study by Kohl & Partner from 2024 confirms that 4 and 4* superior hotels in South Tyrol have higher room prices on average than comparable establishments in Tyrol achieve. This underlines our positioning in the premium segment, but at the same time entails the risk of falling price acceptance — particularly in the event of declining purchasing power.
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Digital governance as an answer to operational uncertainties
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Against this background, it is clear that anyone who uses digital systems for real-time control gains a decisive competitive advantage.
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AI-powered platforms like profitize enable:

• Forecasts, which automatically take into account booking trends, personnel costs and seasonality,
  
  
• Central control of all financial data from PMS, POS, purchasing, banking and HR,
  
  
• Early warning systems in the event of budget deviations or contribution margin risks,
  
  
• simulation models to evaluate price and demand developments.
  
  

Especially in South Tyrol, where many businesses are family-run and seasonal, proactive management essential to remain flexible and economically successful.

Summer season 2025: Seize opportunities — manage risks
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South Tyrol is excellently positioned for tourism — but success today requires more than just capacity utilization.
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In an environment of growing complexity, increasing guest demands and increasingly scarce resources, data-based control and digital intelligence not luxury, but a prerequisite for stable profitability.
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Hotels that are now in smart planning, agile financial processes, and real-time insights invest, create the basis for sustainable success — and make themselves independent of chance, intuition or external shocks.
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Digital systems such as profitize This will result in strategic co-pilot for a resiliently managed hotel industry in South Tyrol.

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