was very low, as it was in the rest of Austria. Subsequently there was a marked increase, reaching
6.3% by 1995 and remaining stable since then. Although the broad tendency of the development
trend was similar, the unemployment level in the western alpine area was somewhat below the
Austrian average throughout this period. In the eastern and southern alpine areas, however, it was
noticeably above average.
Analyses of the population and employment changes over the decade 1981 - 1991 underline the
discrepancy of development between the western and eastern mountain areas of Austria. The
aggregated indicator of the regional dynamic, which combines local and regional data and takes also
account of extreme unemployment situation in some communities, depicts the on-going economic
growth in large parts of the mountains (Figure 2). Some of the rural areas with greatest employment
increase are to be found in the mountain areas of Austria (Table 3). Although this is clearly related to
the coincidence with population development there have been other factors such as an improvement
of accessibility and adaptations in touristic activities and offers which contributed substantially to the
regional dynamics. As has been emphasised by an explorative study of OECD the decisive role of a
set of intangible factors should not to be neglected (OECD 1998b).
Whereas the proportion of the working population engaged in agriculture was still almost 14% in
1971, and in many areas still over 20%, since then it has fallen sharply - in the alpine area as a whole
to barely 6%. In the western provinces, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, the proportion engaged in
agriculture has dropped to the low level of 2.7% to 4.9%, apart from which the proportion of farm
owners aged over 55 is decidedly high. This is by no means true only of the heavily urbanised
regions. In the side valleys with high densities of tourism, the proportion engaged in agriculture is also
occasionally only 2 to 5%, which means that the maintenance of farming, which is also in the interest
of caring for the landscape, is becoming ever more difficult (Dax 1997).
Tourism plays an important role in the Austrian economy. There were 117 million overnight stays per
year in 1995 (87 million of which were by foreign visitors) and the value-added share of tourism in
the total GDP amounted to approximately 8% and almost 15% of GDP when economic activities
that profit indirectly from tourism are included. Tourism is an essential element of the service sector in
the Austrian alpine area, in particular in its western half. The mountain area accounts for nearly 90%
of overnight tourist stays and the economic activities associated with them in Austria (Hovorka