Vienna waltzed into Toronto yesterday evening, with tourism officials painting a bright picture of the Austrian city’s appeal to visitors.
“This year? Wow! We are up and above with our numbers for Canadian travellers,” said Elke Bachner, B2B Marketing Relations at the Vienna Tourist Board, who travelled to Canada for the event held at Bb33 bistro in the Chelsea Hotel.
Tour operators promoting Vienna invited top-selling advisors to the event, hosted by Armando Mendonca, who represents the city’s tourism industry in Canada. Airline officials from Air Canada and the Lufthansa Group were also in attendance.
Bachner described the attractions of Vienna, known as one of the world’s leading destinatons for classical music, art, grand architecture and more.
“Vienna is tolerant and open-minded. We love people and we love art,” Bachner said. The city is frequently listed in global surveys as one of the world’s most liveable cities.
Left to right: Maurizio Mazzola, BDM, Globus family of brands, Lynda Tomilin CTC, Envoyage, collage artist Derek Gores and Robert Chung, Expedia Cruises franchise owner. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Next year Vienna will celebrate 200 years since the birth of composer Johann Strauss, known as the ‘Waltz King.’ Events will be held throughout the year.
Bachner said the key reasons to visit Vienna include its Imperial Heritage as home to the Habsburg dynasty, art, classical music, opera, castles, palaces, wine, cuisine, crystal and “a culture of enjoyment.”
Eszter Almasi, who holds a Route Development role at Vienna Airport, also travelled to Canada for the event, singing the praises of a smaller European airport with strong links to Canada. Air Canada flies nonstop to Vienna from Toronto, while national carrier Austrian Airlines (an AC partner through its membership in the Lufthansa Group) flies from Montreal. Both routes offer year-round service, with daily flights in peak summer season.
Almasi describes VIE as “one of the most user-friendly airports in Europe.” The efficient airport has a connection time of just 35 minutes – which seems very low these days – and 95% of passengers wait less than 10 minutes for screening. Another big plus: a direct train carries visitors from the airport to downtown Vienna in just 16 minutes.
My Escapades representatives Kruti Desai, Anjali Mehra and Firdosh Bulsara at the Vienna event in Toronto. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
For advisors selling Vienna, officials recommend suggesting purchase of a Vienna City Card, which offers unlimited bus and tram travel in the city for up to seven days. It also comes with discounts at museums, and optional airport transfer and hop-on, hop-off sightseeing options.
They also praised ivie, the city guide app for Vienna, which guides visitors with stories on sights, walks and hidden gems. Bachner also promoted the Vienna Experts Club, which offers information and benefits to tourism professionals selling the city.
It wouldn't be a Vienna event without beautiful music. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
As invited guests dined on Austrian specialities including goulash, schnitzel, spätzle and strudel, collage artist Derek Gores worked away on his latest piece. He has a special relationship with Vienna and welcomed guests to watch him work and make suggestions for his paper collage made up of clippings from magazines.
Vienna tourism officials say the city showed its true colours recently, when Taylor Swift concerts in the city were cancelled due to a terrorism threat. Many fans had already travelled to the city and were welcomed with open arms. Restaurants offered free meals to disappointed ticket-holders, and Austria’s renowned crystal maker Swarovski offered Swifties free necklaces.
“The cancellation was a very sad thing, but Vienna turned it around, changing a negative into a positive. It was very special to see.”
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