SUDIPTA DEV – Mumbai
Austrian National Tourist Office had recently organised roadshows in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi to showcase Austria as a destination for summer 2013. “In the last five years the overnights from India to Austria have doubled. This year will be good for Europe as exchange rate has been stable. I am looking at 10 to 15 per cent growth from the Indian market,” stated Christine Mukharji, marketing manager India, Austrian National Tourist Office.
Responding to whether Austria is emerging as standalone destination, Mukharji stated, “The first time travellers will not come to one country. Now we get 60 per cent of first time travellers. Their first choice will be Switzerland, Germany, Italy and then Austria. This fact we are well aware of. We of course want to increase their length of stay but this will take time.” She pointed out that the matured travellers are interested in the eastern part of Austria which is Vienna, along with Prague and Budapest. Besides Vienna the other attractions are Zell am See and the Danube area, while wine tasting is a niche product. Though Austria is the music capital of Europe and a great cultural centre, Mukharji acknowledged that for the majority of the Indian travellers the main attraction is the diversity of the landscape. “For Indian tourists one of the motives of travel is to escape from the heat and the big cities. India itself has thousands of years old cultural legacy so this need is not there, unlike Americans, so what they seek in Austria as a destination is landscape and architecture, not classical music,” she said. There are also many small villages and unspoiled locations in Austria that can be a great attraction for Indian tourists.
