Tourism in Austria is not a recent development, as the country has a long-standing tradition of hospitality. Since the 19th century Austria has been favoured as a travel destination for visitors from near and far.

While the Austrian Tourist Office is not quite as old, our organisation can look back to a long history. During 1945/46, a division within the Austrian National Travel Agency (Verkehrsbüro) was given the task to evaluate the condition of Austrian hotels and restaurants after WWII, thus becoming a predecessor to the Austrian Tourist Office. In 1955 the Austrian Tourist Office was founded with the specific task of promoting Austria as a travel destination abroad.