New all-time high for Vienna: The Austrian capital recorded almost 7 million visitor bednights between January and June 2017 – 4.2% more than for the same period the previous year.
“City breaks to Vienna continue to boom: The city established a new record in the first half of 2017, with visitor bednights increasing 4.2% to around 6,924,000,” according to Norbert Kettner, Director of the Vienna Tourist Board.
Vienna’s highest-volume source markets in the first half of 2017 were Germany with 1,420,000 bednights (+3% on the same period the previous year), followed by Austria (1,360,000, -1%), the USA (396,000, +8%), the United Kingdom(305,000, +3%), and Italy (294,000, -7%). These were followed in places 6 to 10 by Switzerland (214,000, +/-0%), Russia(211,000, +34%), France (204,000, +18%), China (175,000, +45%) and Spain (174,000, -2%). Particularly high growth rates were also recorded for Australia (67,000 bednights, +19%), India (64,000, +15%) and Brazil (63,000, +21%).
Vienna currently has 64,000 hotel beds. The average occupancy rate of Vienna’s rooms from January to June 2017 was 69%, with over 80% of all bednights attributable to international guests. Now Vienna’s objective is to increase overnight stays to 18 million by the year 2020. The meetings industry also has an important role to play, accounting for 12% of the total volume of bednights in 2016. Some 4,000 congresses, corporate events and incentives were held in Vienna last year – again a new record. For the eighth time in a row, the latest Mercer “Quality of Living” survey ranked Vienna in first place worldwide.
Dr. Elinor Garely. Editor-in-Chief, Wines.Travel and TourismExecutives.com; Reporter, eturbonews.com and etn.travel
•Expert Witness: Hospitality, Travel /Tourism industry with TASA Technical Advisory Services for Attorneys
•Award winning international journalist/consultant
Former Professor of Management/Marketing; Coordinator - Hotel, Travel /Tourism program - CUNY, BMCC
•Former Professor - Business Management /Marketing faculty - Long Island University, NYU Stern School of Business, University of Shanghai, PRC
•International marketing and management executive with Playboy Clubs and Hotels, the Copacabana and related restaurants/ clubs; Helmsley Spear (Hospitality Consultant Division), Babcock and Wilcox
•Developed/implemented first hotel joint venture in Russia; first hotel/restaurant management program at University of Shanghai, PRC; designed/ implemented hotel management training programs for hotels in the United States, China (PRC), Malaysia and Caribbean
•Received Ford Foundation grant to study role of Community Colleges in PRC; consultant to the government of Kenya to explore new economic development opportunities in the USA
•Research includes an analysis of Guest Safety/Security at 5-Star/Luxury Hotels in Bangkok, Thailand, Cape Town, South Africa and Miami, Florida (Dissertation); Child Trafficking; eMarketing and We Know What Women Want in Hotels
•Former Real Estate Sales/Broker: Hotel Industry
•Doctorate in International Business from the University of Sarasota (Florida): focus on hotel, travel and tourism and guest safety/security
•MBA in International Marketing and Business Management from New York University, Stern School of Business with Honors from the American Marketing Association; Former Member of BGS Honor Society
• BS Degree, Lesley College, Art / Education
•Former Member - BOD, Sutton Area Community organization, International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association and HSMAI. Current Member - NY Travel Writers Association, Princeton Club of New York
