Salzburg: 11,000 tourists arrive from Russia in one day

Yesterday, the airport in Salzburg, Austria, listed an inrush of Russian tourists with 11,000 holidaymakers arriving in a single day. Most of them were young families with children from the middle class.

There were 45 airplanes that arrived from Russian or Ukrainian airports, landing every 5 minutes.

This is a huge increase from last year and increases in Russian tourists to Austria have been happening quite consistently.

Winter is the highest time of Russian travel to Austria during the year. According to an Austrian tour escort, Russians want to celebrate their orthodox Christmas in Austria, with their favorite destination being the valley in Bad Gastein.

Ski resorts in Austria also top Russian travelers’ list of where they want to go on holiday. Austrian ski resorts Zell am See, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Bad Gastein-Badhofgastein, Mayrhofen, Sölden are very popular. Also popular during a holiday is to visit Ischgl, Mayrhofen, Sölden and Gastein Valley.

According to the Deputy Minister of Culture of Russia, the growth of mutual tourist flows between the two countries is connected with the cross-year tourism of Russia and Austria. Year-round events of interest to holidaymakers include exhibitions, concerts, films, lectures, and literary evenings.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lobbied for the phasing out of economic sanctions and dodged questions about the shooting down of flight MH17 during his first state visit earlier in June to EU member state Austria. He labelled these measures as “harmful.”

The Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said diplomatic progress in eastern Ukraine, followed by a “gradual easing of sanctions” imposed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, was “the scenario we are wishing for.”

Austria continues to be a major hub for the import of Russian gas into Europe, and its trade with Russia increased by 40% over the past year, in spite of a sanction regime.