Tourism Governance
Austria is a Federal Republic with a parliamentary democracy and 9 independent Federal States, called Länder, which have the legislative and executive competencies for tourism affairs.
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Legal Framework
Tourism is a horizontal issue embedded in a highly fragmented environment of competent authorities. According to Article 15 of the Federal Constitutional Act (B-VG, General Clause), Austria’s Länder have the legislative and executive competencies for tourism affairs. The responsibility of the federal government is to coordinate and streamline the overarching tourism policy.
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Organisational Structure
Although the Federal Provinces have the legislative and executive competencies for tourism affairs, tourism is a cross-cutting sector, for which both federal and European laws apply.
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National Tourism Funding
The Ministry for Agriculture, Regions and Tourism is responsible for the strategic use of budget funds to support activities in the tourism and leisure industry. In addition to federal budget funds, financial resources from the ERP and EU co-financing funds are utilised.
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International Tourism Relations
One priority of the BMLRT’s Tourism Divisions is to foster international relations in tourism.