Last week, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and the Managing Director of the Austrian National Tourist Office, Lisa Weddig, along with Minister for Tourism Elisabeth Köstinger and Deputy Secretary General of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Mariana Kühnel, signed a cooperation agreement that will bring the Foreign Ministry and Austrian National Tourist Office even closer together in the future. This “Austria House” approach will help increase Austria’s visibility and raise its profile abroad – with positive effects on Austria’s economy and population.
As an effective ‘Team Austria’, we can combine our resources for the benefit of domestic tourism. The challenges of the pandemic once again clearly showed us how important it is to be able to draw on a strong and broad international red-white-red network. That is the best way to advocate for our country abroad, and it provides long-term security for the location, prosperity, and jobs at home,
says Foreign Minister Schallenberg.
As soon as travel is no longer restricted, the competition for every single visitor will increase. That makes it even more important to present Austria abroad as a tourist destination, and to establish ourselves in new markets. The further enhanced collaboration between the Foreign Ministry, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, and the Austrian National Tourist Office will make that even easier for us. Domestic tourism generates value for our regions and creates thousands of jobs. By creating synergies, we can achieve the best result for our country,
says Minister for Tourism Elisabeth Köstinger.
The agreement will further deepen the close cooperation between the Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs and the Austrian National Tourist Office and/or their association members – the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. Specifically, that means using joint events, joint appearances, and shared networks to access new markets, to attract more visitors, and to create new opportunities for Austrian business and tourism.
All of our activities centre around promoting the interests of Austria as a tourist destination abroad, understanding the needs of our guests, and building their enthusiasm for holidays in Austria. The “Holidays in Austria” brand has an excellent international reputation thanks to our domestic offerings. Our new collaboration as ‘Team Austria’, with the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and the Foreign Ministry, ensures that the best minds in Austria are representing Austria’s interests abroad with the greatest expertise and innovative power. I am pleased about this cooperation, which will generate new potential. We will fully utilise it for the good of the Austrian tourism industry,
says Lisa Weddig, Managing Director of the Austrian National Tourist Office.
The Austrian tourism industry, which is particularly suffering due to the pandemic, can thus count on effective, closely connected, and well-networked partners abroad. The coordinated interactions between Austrian representation authorities and the foreign trade centres of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber as well as the tourism offices of the Austrian National Tourist Office mean that the “Austria” and “Holidays in Austria” brands can now be further strengthened worldwide in the interest of the domestic economy and tourism. As a result, Austria can be promoted even more effectively to its foreign visitors as an attractive destination.
We are very pleased about this agreement because using synergies is the way to go. In these economically challenging times, we can now be an even more effective partner for Austrian companies worldwide and jointly continue writing our success story as an export nation,
emphasises Mariana Kühnel, Deputy Secretary General of theAustrian Federal Economic Chamber, pointing out the strategic significance of the collaboration:
Particularly during the restart phase of tourism, it is enormously important to combine all of our strengths internationally, as ‘Team Austria’, in order to maintain and further expand our position worldwide as a leading tourism destination.
The “ReFocus Austria” initiative was launched in September 2021, marking the largest global outreach effort to promote Austria as a business location. The Austrian government is using this initiative to support the domestic economy during the coronavirus crisis. In collaboration with the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, the Austrian National Tourist Office, and other federal ministries, around 150 events have already taken place at numerous embassies and general consulates worldwide, in part to promote Austria as a tourist destination.
