Travel

Vienna continues to charm Indian tourists

by IBNS 01 Aug 2016, 07:09 am

New Delhi July 30 (IBNS): Vienna is becoming a holiday destination of choice for a larger number of Indians, with 32% more Indians visiting this tourist-friendly city in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year. Of the 3.1 million global visitors, over this period, tourists from India grew at the highest rate, followed by the Great Britain.

Indian families, honeymooners and conference attendees travelled to Vienna for its stately castles, culture, cuisine, music and vast green spaces and helped record 56,000 overnight stays in January-June 2016, a 39% growth over the same period last year.

The top 5 contributors were travellers from Germany, the USA, Italy, Great Britain and Switzerland, after excluding domestic tourists from the home market, Austria.

“This not only reflects Vienna's continued attractiveness, but also shows that our systematic internationalization strategy of diversifying into many different markets is paying off,” explains Norbert Kettner, Director of the Vienna Tourist Board.

One in every eight visitors attended one of the 3,685 congresses, corporate events and incentives in Vienna in 2015 – a new record.

“A popular destination for families and honeymooners, Vienna bewitched younger audiences to savour its romantic ambience. Young Indian couples are now beginning to forge wedding vows in the city, known for its love affair with imperial heritage and architecture,” says Ms Isabella Rauter, Manager, Media Management, Vienna Tourist Board.

Vienna is enchantingly romantic and a favourite destination for Honeymooners. The narrow cobblestoned lanes, arcade-lined courtyards and time-honoured palaces enable a brush with the past. The suites at the Schönbrunn Palace, where the nobility once resided, are now open to Honeymooners.

The Austrian capital, with its legacy of palaces, art, music and romance, also caught the eye of Indian film maker Karan Johar who chose Vienna as the setting for his upcoming romantic film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil that stars Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai and Ranbir Kapoor.

Coffee Houses, Green Cityscapes and Resounding Music add to Viennese charm
Vienna is the only major world capital with an extensive wine growing industry operating within the city limited. It even has its own culinary genre--Viennese Cuisine. The irresistible coffee houses, heavens of Viennese coziness, are the perfect places to dream of imperial days of yore.

Most coffee houses offer superb confections that pamper taste buds. Viennese cake, Apple Strudel, Sacher Torte and Coffee make for a great gastronomic experience. For an Indian food buff Vienna boasts of over 30 Indian restaurants.

Some of the attractions popular with Indians are a stroll around the city, a leisurely journey which takes one back to the days of the empire. Parks and green spaces make up more than the half of the metropolitan area offering plenty of opportunities for recreation. 280 imperial parks and gardens enrich the cityscape. In spring, 400 species of rose bloom in the Volksgarten alone.

A study by Mercer, a global consulting leader, has ranked Vienna with the world’s highest quality of living, for the seventh consecutive time in a row until 2016.

The Spanish Riding School preserves and promotes classic equestrian skills in its original form. Many years of training meshes the horse and rider into an inseparable unit. Their rhythmic movement in harmony with music leaves the audience spell bound. Lately the horsemanship has been classified as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.

Not long after sundown 10,000 music fans throng concert halls, resounding with live classical music, something unheard of in any other part of the world. Vienna has also hosted many outstanding composers of the stature of Mozart, Mahler, Haydn, Beethoven and Johann Strauss, the king of the Viennese waltz.

How To Get There

Air India offers a thrice a week direct flight from Delhi from Vienna and back.

Those embarking from Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore can reach Vienna after a small stop on Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Air India, Swiss, Lufthansa and British Airways.