100 million euros for domestic tourism

Karl Nehammer, EIB Vice-President and former ÖVP Chancellor, said at the signing of the latest funding program in Vienna yesterday, Thursday, that the funds would be widely distributed on the market, meaning that they would not only be available to large companies, but also to SMEs. The funds would trigger many follow-up investments and thus strengthen the location.

According to OeHT managing director Matthias Matzer, 112 loans with a volume of almost 200 million euros were approved last year. They would have triggered an investment volume of 370 million euros. The interest rates are only half as high as on standard market loans. For Matzer, the “huge issue” in the next few years is the transfer of operations, which are unclear in many cases, also because of open financing issues.

For Tourism State Secretary Elisabeth Zehetner, another aspect is the constant pressure to invest. “The quality in tourism is visibly aging. We have a group of guests with increasing expectations. If you don’t invest, you will lose demand.”