Blow Against Austrian Tourism: Germany Declares Vienna a Corona Risk Area
Because of too high corona infection figures, the German government now warns against "unnecessary, touristic" trips to Vienna. Vienna is classified as a risk area in view of the high number of new corona infections.
German government warns against travel to Vienna. The new assessment from Germany is a heavy blow for Austrian tourism industry. / Picture: © German and Austrian crossed flags by Vindobona
The reason for this is that the number of new infections since September 5 has been well over 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. With this classification, visitors to Vienna will be subject to stricter quarantine regulations upon their return to Germany.
According to a report by ARD, which refers to the latest figures from the RKI Robert-Koch Institute, Austria is three times more affected than Germany.
Celebrations with family or friends are mainly responsible for the continuing high number of new corona infections in the entire Austrian territory.
Most recently, 768 new cases were recorded in one day. Also the number of occupied hospital beds is beginning to rise noticeably.
With this development, Austria is clearly above the trend in Germany.
Taking into account the number of inhabitants, the infection figures in Austria are a good three times higher.
3600 of the currently about 6600 active cases in Austria are reported from Vienna.
Switzerland had therefore already put the Vienna on the list of risk areas.
Against this background, the new assessment from Germany is a heavy blow for Austrian tourism, where hotels and restaurants are already struggling.
The German Foreign Office has therefore published further travel warnings on its website. Besides Vienna, the Hungarian capital Budapest is also affected.
On the side of the German Foreign Office it says as follows: "Due to high infection rates, there are currently warnings against unnecessary tourist travel to the federal state of Vienna.
"The COVID-19 infection rate in Austria is currently increasing. In the Federal State of Vienna, the incidence is currently more than 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per seven days, which is why the Federal State has been classified as a risk area. This results in a mandatory free COVID-19 PCR test on entry into Germany and, if necessary, a quarantine obligation. Also the federal state Tyrol, here in particular the city of Innsbruck, registers strongly rising infection numbers".
The entry from Germany to Austria is still possible without restrictions.
Although a travel warning is not a travel ban, it should have a deterrent effect.
For German holidaymakers, returning from an area with a travel warning means a corona compulsory test and compulsory quarantine until a negative test result is obtained.
According to ARD, travel warnings for consumers also have a positive side: they allow travelers to cancel bookings free of charge.
According to the German Foreign Office, the Hungarian capital Budapest is now also officially considered a risk area.