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People are on the move again, the analyzes show the patterns of movement in Austria. But they also show the misery of tourism in many cities.
During the summer and finally at the beginning of school, the Austrians were again almost as mobile as before the closure of Corona. This can be seen in the analysis of anonymous motion data from the telecommunications company A1 and Invenium. But there is also the misery of tourism in many cities, especially the “extreme” Vienna.
Before the shutdown, about 75 percent of citizens traveled more than one kilometer per day on average, but this value fell to about 43 percent during crown weddings in March or April. Over the course of the summer, 72 percent returned to this mobility group and with the return to schools, this value rose one more percentage point, explained Mario Mayerthaler from A1 and Michael Cik from Invenium: “People are in move again. “
Tracking by Handy
Analysis of movement patterns in Austria is carried out by Invenium, a spin-off company of the Technical University (TU) of Graz, based on information on which mobile phones dial which mobile phone antennas via the SIM card throughout of the day. The basic data remains with A1. For data protection reasons, each cell phone is assigned a number that is automatically generated at random and reassigned every 24 hours.
Now it has almost returned to the initial value, “but not yet”, according to the experts, who for a long period of time provided periodic evaluations to the Covid 19 crisis team. The fact that there are still small differences could be due to the increase in the home offices. It cannot yet be said from the data whether the government’s recent call to follow this model further in light of the growing number of cases is having an effect. One is now in contact with the Federal Chancellery for “basic reports” on the possible effects of the regional orange traffic light change, according to Mayerthaler.
Tourist misery in the cities
The corona crisis is still clearly visible to the naked eye at many city tourism hotspots – the decline is strongest in Vienna, as is also evidenced by mobility, including roaming data. Although Mariahilfer Strasse was practically empty during the confinement, the number of passers-by increased again in May. Compared to September 2019, there are still about a quarter fewer people on the shopping mile.
At Stephansplatz, which is even more touristy, and at Graben in Vienna’s city center, the year-on-year decline is even more marked, 36 percent. “International tourists are missing,” Mayerthaler said. Otherwise, they make up about a third of pedestrians, currently it’s about 14 percent. Marked foreign SIM cards show that “German guests, in particular, jump a lot.” In a September comparison, you can see that only half of the Germans are there as usual. Guests from countries like Britain stay away almost entirely, analyzes show. The total number of visitors is much lower in Innsbruck’s city center, for example, seven percent below average.
According to experts, the desire of city tourism as a whole to compensate for this with a plus in local guests has definitely not been fulfilled. On the other hand, there are some impressive increases in views, for example in Lower Austria, according to Cik.
Public transport continues to be used significantly less, according to Cik. With a current decrease in passengers across Austria of 30 to 40 percent compared to the pre-crisis average, “we still have a bigger problem here,” said the transport scientist. On the other hand, motorized individual traffic has returned to its usual level and there is also a certain normalization in the shared car area, which initially collapsed as a result of the crown. The reduction in traffic could only be measured in summer.
(THAN)
