Tourism parities

Combining purchasing power parities (PPPs) for selected categories with a tourism-related expenditure structure enables the calculation of specific “tourism” PPPs and respective “tourism” price level indices. These indicators provide information about whether a holiday abroad would be more or less expensive than a holiday in Austria. Within the Euro zone, the new common currency has simplified comparisons of consumer prices in absolute terms, but the common currency does not mean that goods and services are offered at identical prices (despite certain convergence tendencies).

Typical tourism-related expenditure structure

The purchasing power of the “Austrian Euro” abroad

Once per year (April/May), Statistics Austria calculates “tourism-relevant” price level indices on the basis of Austria = 100 for the most popular holiday destinations among the Austrian population in order to offer an additional criterion for the decisions of the future holiday-makers. The items relevant to tourism are selected from the wealth of PPPs resulting from the European Comparison Programme (ECP) and are weighted using holiday consumption expenditure data. The price level indices (PLIs) are calculated as the ratio of the specific PPP and the exchange rate.

Price level indices are customarily presented in two ways:

1. Price level index (AT = 100): If the index is greater than 100, the country concerned is more expensive than Austria; if the index is less than 100, it is cheaper (relative presentation).
2. Absolute statement as a countervalue to 100 “Austrian” Euros: The cheaper a country, the greater the countervalue of one’s currency. It is calculated as the ratio 10000/PLI.

For current results and further information, please refer to the press releases and relevant articles in the monthly journal “Statistische Nachrichten” (available in German only).

Comparison limitations

The purchasing power parities used relate to national average level. For countries with a greater area and/or strong price differences in concrete regions (urban/rural areas, north/south, tourism hub/hinterland), the price level at a particular holiday destination in the chosen country may be significantly different to the national average.

With respect to currency conversion rates and consumer price indices, the calculated results are snapshots (date of publication) and, for holidays at a later date, should be updated consistently using the latest available information (inflation rate, exchange rate) for the selected country.