Higher pay for tens of thousands of employees in Austrian tourism from October

Background: Negotiations under pressure

Eva Eberhart, negotiator for the Vida union, sharply criticised the employers' initial offers. She said: "Rekordnächtigungen, Rekordumsätze, eine Saison, die alle Erwartungen sprengt – und gleichzeitig ein Angebot, das die Beschäftigten real noch ärmer gemacht hätte. Vom Erfolg hat im Tourismus immer nur einer was, und zwar leider nicht die Beschäftigten." This summed up the union's core demand: employees must also share in rising industry revenues.

On the employers' side, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO) negotiated. The association represents tourism businesses and, together with Vida, formulated the framework conditions for the roughly ten thousand employees who fall directly under the new collective agreement.

Roman Hebenstreit, Vida representative, placed the agreement in a broader context. He said: "Seit Jahren hören wir dieselbe Klage über Arbeitskräftemangel. Aber ein echter Mangel hat eine Sprache, und die heißt steigende Löhne. In dieser Branche passiert das Gegenteil: Die Kaufkraft sinkt." The reference to declining purchasing power was intended to increase pressure on the employers' side and justify the rejection of wage settlements that were too low.

Position of the Vida union

In the course of the negotiations, the union drew attention to its demands through protest actions. The mobilisation of employees is considered a key factor that ultimately moved the negotiations toward a higher increase. According to reports, the Chamber of Commerce and the protest actions only gained momentum in the final phase.

The concrete wage increases are to take effect in several stages from October 2026. With the adjustment, the social partners are also responding to the general inflation of recent years, which had put real wages in tourism under pressure. Industry observers therefore see the settlement as an economic signal beyond tourism as well.

Impact on employees and the industry

Internationally, Austrian tourism continues to be in strong demand in summer 2026, while regions such as Greece also face pressure to pay their employees competitive wages. The Austrian settlement could therefore serve as a benchmark for ongoing negotiations in other European tourism countries.

The Chamber of Commerce described the agreement as balanced, but pointed out that the increased labour costs would pose further challenges for businesses. The Vida union, in turn, spoke of an important partial success that would better secure employees' cost of living than before.

For employees, the new collective agreement primarily means a higher monthly income that, given the inflation of recent years, is noticeably above previous settlements. The term and the exact wage increase steps will be communicated jointly by the social partners in the coming days.

Observers expect that the next collective bargaining round will come into focus as early as spring 2027. Even now, the settlement is seen as a signal that the tourism industry must increasingly pass on rising revenues to its employees if the skills shortage is to be sustainably eased.