The Austrian Professional Hotel Association has approximately 18.600 members, of which about 4.700 are classified as hotels, 6.200 as guest houses and about 4.000 as pensions. The remaining members are categorised as sanatoriums or recreation homes (about 3.000) and as apartments (about 750) .
Not including recreation homes and apartments there are
(March 2009):

• 60 Five Star establishments
• 108 Four Star Superior establishments
• 2089 Four Star establishments
• 4149 Three Star establishments
• 1893 Two Star establishments, and
• 224 One Star establishments

About 50% of all Austrian accommodation establishments are classified, meaning that the level of classification is one of the highest in international terms and that guests are able to feel pleased about assured levels of quality.
Below, you can see a comparison of the classification procedures in 18 European countries. As can be seen in the graphics, inspections are normally carried out by committees (as in Austria) or by public bodies. As regards the frequency of inspections, annual inspections are normal in a third of the countries.

In 28% of the countries, self inspection, as in Austria, has caught on. Classification in Austria takes place regularly, at least once every 5 years.