Austria is gearing up for its annual Austria Road Show in the region, which will travel to, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, as well as the UAE to meet the local travel trade and exchange the latest updates in the travel industry.
Robert Groeblacher, director of Austrian National Tourist Office in Dubai, tells TTN, “The main season for Arab travellers to travel to Austria is summer to escape the heat of the desert country and spend time with their families and loved ones in an exotic place like Austria. The Arab traveller seeks cooler temperatures and fairy-tale like sceneries such as the lush and green landscapes in Austria.”
As roundtrips through Europe become more and more important to the Arab travellers, destinations such as Salzburg, Innsbruck as well as Vienna are some of the most popular travel destinations being situated next to other European cities. “In addition to the main regions, Zell am See-Kaprun remains the most visited destination by Arab guests in Austria, since the charming town in the federal state of Salzburg is popularly known as ‘Jannah’ or paradise in the Arab world.”
“We see that more young people are travelling and Austria has amazing things to offer for younger generations such as hiking in the beautiful Austrian nature and skiing in the winter.”
From the UAE, Austria had a small decline in the numbers of guests in 2019 – around 6 per cent – whereas from Saudi Arabia, there was an increase of 10 per cent, says the director. “We want to showcase more ‘new’ regions within Austria to the more experienced travellers. For example, interesting regions in the alpine areas of Tyrol or the mountain and lake areas of the Salzkammergut.”
In April, Austrian National Tourist Office will have a joint event with three other European tourist boards (Switzerland, Germany and France) and their tourism partners. “During this joint event, we will invite tour operators from the GCC to Dubai to meet the European tourism partners. After this event, we will also participate at the Arabian Travel Market to engage with the local travel industry,” Groeblacher tells TTN.
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