In December 1972 a study on holiday trips of the Austrian population is conducted in the course of the Mikrozensus. This survey is limited (as was the previous Mirkrozensus survey 3 years prior MZ6904) to the main holidays (with a minimum number of 4 overnight stays outside the residential area). In September 1971 there was a special survey on short vacations on certain official holidays. The massive increase in tourism is a characteristic feature of the economic and social development of the last decades. The ongoing statistic on tourism which registers arrival and overnight stays in lodging establishments and private homes provides information on the travel-flow but not on the composition of the groups of travellers. This additional information is provided through sampling in many European countries on recommendation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). With this Mikrozensus special survey Austria contributes to this household survey on holiday habits which is conducted simultaneously in most OECD-countries. The comparability of the results is warranted thanks to a survey catalogue fixed by the OECD some time ago. Therefore, the question program differs only slightly from the question program of the year 1969.