A growing tourism industry started in the mid-19th century, accelerating after the establishment of the Lake Wörth navy in 1853. Shortly after that, in 1864, Pörtschach received a railway station on the new Southern Railway line from Vienna to Venice; this made it a favoured tourist destination. Famous tourists from Vienna included Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria, Gustav Mahler, and Johannes Brahms, who worked on his Second Symphony and his Violin Concerto here. After the tourism boom years in Carinthia of the 1960s and 1970s, a revival in Pörtschach as an events centre is under way. The goal is to develop as a "sustainable tourist attraction" affiliated to nature, culture and history.