Austria Guest Registration Law: What Property Managers Must Know
Austria guest registration law applies to every paying overnight guest. It does not matter if you run a hotel, a guest house or a single short-term rental flat you manage from afar.
The core duty comes from Meldegesetz Section 5, which says hosts must record ID details for each guest on a Gaestebeitragsblatt, sometimes called a Meldezettel. The guest must sign it to confirm the data is correct.
This is not the same as the overnight stay statistics that towns like Vienna and Graz collect. They gather those totals through systems such as Feratel and Capcorn.
Managers who mix up the two make one of two mistakes. Some send guest ID details to a statistics portal they do not need to reach. Others think a statistics filing covers the ID registration rule.
This guide covers what Section 5 asks of you today and how long you must keep guest records. It also shows how digital tools can keep many listings in line across Feratel and Capcorn with no paperwork.
Key Takeaways
Austria guest registration law under Meldegesetz Section 5 says every paying overnight guest must be recorded. The only real exception is children under 15 who travel with a parent who signs the form.
You must record guest data at arrival, not add it later. The guest's signature is a legal must to confirm the data is correct.
Managers may need to keep completed guest records for up to seven years. With paper Meldezettel, that can mean a heavy filing load across many homes.
Guest ID registration under Section 5 is not the same as tourism statistics. Those totals go through Feratel and Capcorn to bodies like Wien VIETour and Graz City Report.
Managers who use digital check-in tools can often reach up to a 93 percent check-in rate. That helps you get the right guest data before arrival at every listing.
What Does Austria Guest Registration Law Require for Every Stay?
Meldegesetz Section 5 says every paying overnight guest must be recorded. There is no exemption for short stays, repeat guests or low-value bookings.
The only real exception is children under 15 who travel with a parent. They are added as a co-traveller on the parent’s entry, not registered on their own. You must record the data at arrival, and the guest must sign the Gaestebeitragsblatt to confirm it is correct.
Online check-in can capture this signature in digital form. Paper Meldezettel need a real signature at key handover.
This ID duty is not the same as the overnight stay statistics that Austrian towns collect for tourism planning. Vienna, for example, wants statistics sent to VIETour. Graz uses its own City Report system. Both get data through links like Feratel and Capcorn.
If you run listings in several Austrian towns, you often need to meet both rules side by side. A statistics filing does not replace the per-guest Meldegesetz record. The core data you need on every Gaestebeitragsblatt usually includes:
Full name and date of birth
Nationality and identity document details
Arrival date, recorded at check-in
Guest signature confirming the data
Co-traveller details for children under 15
How Long Must Property Managers Keep Austria Guest Registration Records?
In Austria, you may need to keep guest records much longer than in some nearby countries. Managers are often told to keep completed Gaestebeitragsblatt records for up to seven years.
If you run several flats, that long window turns paper Meldezettel into a growing filing task. You must hand out printed forms, collect a signature, and then file each one by property and by date.
Since 2023, checks have grown in several Austrian cities. A guest or neighbor complaint often starts them. So can a tourist tax audit that grows into a wider review, or joint sweeps by town officials, police and tax offices.
Salzburg alone said it handled around 692 registration cases and issued about 168,000 euro in fines during 2024. Some cities are talking about raising top fines toward the levels Vienna already uses.
Inspectors often look first at managers with many listings, simply because they hold more guest records. A sound Austrian guest registration process for many homes usually needs to track:
Up to a seven-year retention window for completed guest registration records
Signature capture at the time of arrival, physical or electronic
Separate statistics submissions through Feratel or Capcorn where required
Registration numbers given by the local tourist office, shown on listings
Local overnight accommodation tax collection and payment
How Can Property Managers Automate Austrian Guest Compliance?
If you handle Austrian guest registration by hand across several homes, more can go wrong. You may miss a signature, send statistics late or file a record under the wrong address.
Digital check-in tools can send guests a registration link before arrival. They collect the needed ID fields and a digital signature. Then they file the finished record for each property on their own.
Links with Feratel and Capcorn let the same guest data you collect for the Meldegesetz record feed the town statistics too. You do not type it in twice. This matters most if you file in Vienna, Graz, Salzburg and other towns that each use a different portal.
Automation does not remove the duty to have a registration number or pay tourist tax. But it can cut the manual steps your team repeats for every booking. An automated Austrian guest compliance process usually brings together:
Pre-arrival collection of guest identity data and signature
Automatic filing that matches the seven-year retention expectation
Direct data feeds into Feratel and Capcorn for statistics reporting
Tracking of the registration number needed for each listing
Records available on request during a town compliance audit
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to register every Airbnb guest in Austria, even for a one-night stay?
Yes. Meldegesetz Section 5 says every paying overnight guest must be recorded, with no exemption for short stays or low-value bookings. The only real exception is children under 15 who travel with a parent. They are added to the parent's entry, which some regions call a Meldezettel, instead of being registered on their own.
How long do property managers have to keep Austrian guest registration records?
Managers are often told to keep completed Gaestebeitragsblatt records for up to seven years. That is longer than the period several other European countries require.
Is Feratel the same as the Meldegesetz guest registration requirement in Austria?
No. Feratel and Capcorn send tourism statistics totals to bodies like Wien VIETour or Graz City Report. The Meldegesetz Section 5 rule covers ID records for each guest, kept at the property. Both duties usually apply at the same time.
What happens if a property manager in Vienna does not register a short-term rental?
Since 2024, checks have grown a lot in cities like Vienna and Salzburg. Complaints or tourist tax audits often start them. Salzburg alone reported around 692 registration cases and about 168,000 euro in fines during 2024. Some cities are thinking about higher top fines.
Can Austrian guest registration be completed digitally instead of on paper?
Yes. Digital check-in tools can collect the needed ID fields and a digital signature before arrival. They then file the finished record on their own. This helps you meet both the Meldegesetz record rules and the Feratel or Capcorn statistics rules with no typing things in twice.
