Tag Archives: Christine Mukharji

The Austrian National Tourism Office hosted a press conference in Delhi on February 9. Partners from Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Zell am See-Kaprun and Swarovski Crystal World informed the media about the growth of visitor arrivals from India in 2017 and laid down the plans for 2018. Christine Mukharji, Director, ANTO, said, “Austria witnessed 177,700 arrivals from India in 2017, which was a 20.5 increase from 2016 and the overnights went up to 324,400, which is a 19.5% increase from last year.” Isabella Rauter, Public Relations Manager, Vienna Tourism Board; Andreas Reiter, Market Management, Spain, India and Arab Countries, Innsbruck Tourism; Inshvinder Maddh, India representative of Innsbruck Tourism; Klemens Kollenz, Sales and Marketing Manager, Salzburg Tourism; Christian Pfeffer, Marketing/Sales, Zell am See-Kaprun and Christiane Gasser, Head of Channel marketing, Swarovski Tourism Services, interacted with members of the press with interactive presentations on what each destination had to offer to Indian tourists.

Austria witnessed a growth of 28 per cent in Indian arrivals from January-June 2017,  informed Christine Mukharji, Market Manager-India, Austrian National Tourism Office (ANTO). She added that they are hopeful to welcome over 150,000 Indian arrivals by the end of the year. “Like last year, this year as well India has been a great market for Austria. We witnessed 25 per cent year on year growth from India in 2016 and till June 2017, we have already seen a growth of 28 per cent in Indian arrivals. This also shows that our market share in comparison to our competitors is increasing as Indians realise that we can offer everything from culture, snow and soft sports activities at the destination.” Austria saw the maximum increase from the FIT segment but Mukharji also pointed out that the destination witnessed an Indian wedding in the month of May with 700 people which was a huge revenue booster for Austria. “Not only has the percentage of Indian overnights has gone up for Austria, we have also seen an increase in revenue as these FIT travellers tend to stay mostly in 5-star properties. There has also been an increase in the length of stay amongst the Indian travellers which varies from city to city. Innsbruck has been traditionally a one night destination and the average duration of stay in Vienna is 2.4 days. However Salzburg has developed as a popular tourist destination amongst Indians and the average duration of stay increased from one night to 1.9 nights amongst Indian travellers,” says Mukharji.

Austria recorded a total of 147,300 arrivals from India in 2016 which amounts to 25 per cent increase over 2015 and 271,100 overnights registering a 25 per cent increase over 2015. “According to our statistics, which assesses 55 countries across the globe, India was identified as the highest growing market for Austria. Also, Indian outbound market is expected to grow at 8.2 per cent and by 2021, 21.5 million Indians are expected to travel abroad. It is interesting to note that 44 per cent of Indians stayed in 4-star hotels and 19 per cent stayed in 5-star properties,” informed Christine Mukharji, Marketing Manager, Austrian National Tourism Office. Austria Tourism Board conducted its annual roadshow in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. Vienna, the capital city received a record 53,522 Indian arrivals corresponding to 32.6 per cent growth as compared to 2015. A total number of 111,531 bed nights were recorded, which is an increase of 28.9 per cent. “We are expecting an increase of nearly 20-30 per cent from India in 2017. India climbed to the 29th position from 42nd last year in terms of source markets in 2016 and we hope to see India in our top 10 source markets soon,” said Isabella Rauter, Team Manager-Media Management, Vienna Tourist Board. The city of Innsbruck recorded 51,000 Indian overnights in 2016 corresponding to a 5 per cent growth over 2015. “With an increase in number of Indian arrivals to Innsbruck, we are now the second most popular destination in Austria after Vienna for Indian visitors. We have some very exciting projects with Bollywood coming up in Innsbruck. The Yash Raj Film-Tiger Zinda Hai, featuring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif will be shot in …