In Illmitz the primary business is wine production. The city is surrounded by fields with grapevines in them. Tourism also is significant. Every year in May, many ornithologists come from all over Europe to see the rare birds. Long before the establishment of the National Park, the Lange Lacke (Long Lake) already was an important nature reserve. Lange Lacke is the largest of about forty salt lakes near the town. It has more than 100 years of scientific data collected on bird life. The bird population and grape growers are in conflict, and farmers have sonic cannons in the fields to frighten birds from eating the grapes.
Although a small village only, Illmitz is known to wine lovers worldwide. Winemakers such as Alois Kracher, Willi Opitz and Stefan Tschida are famous for their noble sweet wines
