The Development and Diversity of Asian Tourism in Europe: The case of Vienna

The Development and Diversity of Asian Tourism in Europe: The case of Vienna

Tourists from Asia offer a promising alternative target for some of the traditional European tourist markets that have stagnated owing to the economic crisis. The number of Asian tourist arrivals in Austria’s capital city Vienna has increased dramatically, as double-digit growth rates of recent years demonstrate. A remarkable recovery of the Japanese market as well as an exponential growth of the Chinese and South Korean markets, in addition to the high spending power of Thai tourists, have created a highly positive scenario for the tourism industry in Austria. This paper uses Vienna as a case study to exemplify the rise of Asian tourism in Europe. Tourism statistics, media reports, and materials of destination marketing organizations were analyzed to provide an evaluation of trends and growth of Asian outbound tourism to Vienna. The authors argue that the sophistication of tourist consumption of European cultural attractions is in line with stages of socio-economic and political development of Asian countries, and that travel patterns significantly differ within the Asian market.