geographic and activity-based market research for armenia tourism

280 Pages·2008·1.77 MB·English

GEOGRAPHIC AND ACTIVITY-BASED

MARKET RESEARCH FOR ARMENIA
TOURISM
VOLUME 1
August 2007
This publication was produced by Nathan Associates Inc. for review by the United States Agency for International Development.
GEOGRAPHIC AND ACTIVITY-BASED

MARKET RESEARCH FOR ARMENIA

T OURISM

VOLUME 1

Disclaimer: The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views
of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government
Contents
Research by Country 1
1. Austria 3
2. Belgium 19
3. Canada 33
4. China 51
5. France 67
6. Germany 85
7. Iran 105
8. Italy 115
9. Japan 133
10. The Netherlands 151
11. Russian Federation 167
12. Spain 181
13. Sweden 197
14. Switzerland 215
15. United Arab Emirates 233
16. United Kingdom 245
17. United States 263
R C
ESEARCH BY OUNTRY
1. Austria
Size of population: 8,292,322
Number of outbound holiday trips in 2005: 6,564,000
Percentage of population making outbound holiday trips in 2006: 39%
Major outbound holiday destinations in 2006: Italy, Germany, Croatia
Average length of stay for outbound holiday trips in 2006: 7.6 days
Prices for round-trip air ticket VIE-EVN in summer season (economy class):
Lowest—US$636 (Austrian Airlines office in Armenia)
Highest—US$1065 (Austrian Airlines office in Armenia)
Number of direct flights to Armenia each week: 7
Outbound holiday trips as a percentage of all outbound trips: Information not available
4 MARKET RESEARCH FOR ARMENIAN TOURISM
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
1. Center for promotion of imports from developing countries, www.cbi.nl
2. The trade fair, Vienna, www.messe.at
3. Statistic Austria, www.statistik.at
4. Austrian Chamber of Commerce, department of tourism, http://wko.at/bstf
5. Austrian Tourism Association/Travel Agency Association, http://www.reiseweb.at
6. Austrian Trade Association for Travel Agencies, http://www.reisebueros.at
7. Austrian Travel Agency Association, http://www.oerv.at
8. Report Prepared For The Enterprise DG (Unit D.3), Of The European Commission,
[email protected]
9. World Tourism Organization, http://www.world-tourism.org/
10. World Travel Guide, http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/21/public_holidays/Europe/
Austria.html
11. Kwintessential, www.kwintessential.co.uk
12. Ferien Wien, www.ferien-messe.at
13. Ferien Salzburg, www.ferien-salzburg.at
14. http://www.holidays-info.com/School-Holidays-Austria/2007/school_holidays_2007.html
15. Visit Britain, Austria Market and Trade Profile, http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk
16. Visit Scotland, www.visitscotland.org/research_and_statistics/other_research_reports/
benchmarking_scotland/benchmark/austrianbenchmarking/
austrianbenchmarkingorganisation.htm
17. EuroStat, Panorama on Tourism, www.eds-estatis.de/en/downloads/sif/
np_06_05.pdf-http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/
page?_pageid=2953,66450428,2953_66450750&_dad=portal&_schema=
PORTAL#a ;

OUTBOUND TRAVEL NUMBERS AND DESTINATIONS [1], [2]
Austrians travel abroad a lot compared to many other Europeans. In 2006, 5.19 million
Austrians (over age 15) took 15.77 million holiday trips (outbound and domestic), of
which 3.3 million (63.5% of all holiday makers) took an outbound holiday.
Austrians mainly travel within Europe. In 2004, Croatia and Turkey drew 65% of the total
Austrian trips to developing countries. The motive is that many Turkish immigrants live in
Austria and are intended to visit their relatives. Business purpose travelers mainly travel
to Germany, USA, and Eastern European countries. Italy topped the list of outbound
holiday destinations in 2006, followed by Germany and Croatia.
AUSTRIA 5
Destination No. of Trips Share of all Trips(%)
Italy 1,476,900 22.5
Germany 807,372 12.3
Croatia 722,040 11.0
In 2004, 21% of Austrians’ outbound trips were to developing countries. Austria holds
the sixth position among EU member countries for visits to developing countries, after
the Netherlands and before Spain. There are forecasted to be 13.l4 million such trips by
2010.
Table 1-1
Number of Holiday Trips to Developing Countries by Region, Three Most Popular Countries per
Region
Country 2001 2004 Growth 2001–2004 (%)
Europe 1,057,064 1,220,790 15
Croatia 686,844 740,960 8
Turkey 351,111 447,304 27
Serbia-Montenegro 10,059 14,470 44
Armenia 580 1,853 219
Middle East 107,000 176,693 65
Egypt 87,817 150,698 72
Oman 4,473 7,850 75
Syria 4,046 4,631 14
East Asia 130,643 156,583 20
Thailand 46,461 51,229 10
China 31,401 43,803 39
Indonesia 21,784 24,235 11
Africa 202,032 150,469 -26
Tunisia 114,818 84,383 -27
South Africa 18,639 20,602 11
Morocco 21,235 13,561 -36
Latin America 87,179 82,844 -5
Brazil 24,954 21,034 -16
Cuba 17,832 17,403 -2
Dominican Republic 13,265 10,471 -21
South Asia 40,035 50,234 25
India 17,787 21,093 19
Maldives 10,494 13,059 24
Sri Lanka 5,968 8,633 45
Total 1,623,953 1,837,613 13

The Central and Eastern European countries account for less than 1% of Austria’s
travel, whereas Switzerland’s share amounts to 4.2%. According to the available data,
the weight of Russia in Austria’s tourism industry is still low, at 0.3%. In general Africa
6 MARKET RESEARCH FOR ARMENIAN TOURISM
and America are getting less popular, while interest in Asia and Middle East is growing
slowly. The significant rise in number of visits to Armenia is because of some Armenians’
having businesses and their repeat travels.
PURPOSE OF TRAVEL [3]
Business
In 2006, 1.22 million Austrians (over age 15) took a total of 4.59 million business trips. In
contrast to holiday trips, business trips are distributed more or less evenly over the year.
Business trips are characterized by a shorter average duration and higher expenditure
per person and overnight stay.
Table 1-2
Most Important Destinations for Austrian Business Trips
Destination No.of trips %
Germany 1,712,070 37.3
Italy 367,200 8.0
Hungary 179,010 3.9
Holidays
Where main holidays are concerned, Austrians’ preferred outbound destinations
(63.5%). Altogether, 18% of all holiday trips in 2006 took place in the first quarter and
19.9% in the fourth quarter.
In Austria there is a huge demand in language course/holidays, with the majority of
students visiting English-speaking countries, Britain being the closest.
FACTORS AFFECTING CHOICE [1]
The main factors affecting travelers’ choice:
• Holiday, recreation, and closeness to the sea are most important
• Season (summer—July–September)
• Price
• Safety (political, social, etc.)
• Recommendation of friends and relatives
• Value for money
INTERESTS OF THOSE TRAVELING ABROAD
Austrians like making outbound trips, choosing their holiday destination on the basis of
special interests such as walking, spa breaks, and gardening. Value for money and
recommendations from friends, rather than by the destination itself play important roles
in their choice.
AUSTRIA 7
The trend to more culture-oriented and nature-based tourism is difficult to evaluate,
because of a lack of generally accepted definitions on the one hand and tourists’
behavior on the other, who in many cases choose a mixture of culture and recreation
during the same holiday.
Table 1-3
Destinations of Outbound Austrian Tourists by Interest
Total Beach or Study or
Destination Trips Sea Hiking Cycling Skiing Health Sightseeing Other
Europe 87 49 2 0.60 0.50 2.80 19 26.70
Germany 6.8 5.26 6.47 3.13 0.00 4.06 35.40 45.60
Spain 4 62.46 2.00 1.00 0.00 1.00 15.00 18.54
Italy 28 56.04 3.51 1.05 0.03 3.21 20.40 16.00
Croatia 16 68.13 0.49 0.38 0.00 0.00 0.33 26.49
Turkey 12 63.27 0.35 0.00 0.00 0.55 5.81 30.00
Americas 3.61 28.02 1.05 0.66 0.00 0.13 52.74 17.40
United States 60.05 10.97 0.70 0.85 0.00 0.00 68.07 19.00
Canada 13 0.00 1.26 0.66 0.00 0.00 68.99 29.00
Caribbean 18.00 15.46 0.13 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.05 83.00
Africa 5 57.41 0.13 0.00 0.00 0.72 27.02 15.00
Tunis 50 77.67 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.90 6.96 14.00
Egypt 28 48.48 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.96 33.97 17.00
South Africa 7 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 84.91 15.00
Asia and Middle 2 32.41 0.86 0.00 0.00 0.96 47.04 19.00
East
Australia and 1 19.63 0.47 0.00 0.00 0.93 67.29 12.00
Oceania

WHEN TOURISTS TRAVEL [10], [14]
Traveling Period
The main traveling season is traditionally during the third quarter (July–September). In
2006 2,138,080 outbound holiday trips (32.6%) were taken at this time.
Vacations
Austrians are entitled to 35 days of paid vacation (for elderly employees, 42 days)
8 MARKET RESEARCH FOR ARMENIAN TOURISM

Public Holidays
In 2007, Austrians had the following public holidays:
January 1 New Year’s Day
January 6 Epiphany
April 6-9 Easter
May 1 Labor Day
May 17 Ascension Day
May 27 White Sunday
June 7 Corpus Christi
August 15 Assumption
October 26 Austrian National Holiday
November 1 All Saint’s Day
December 8 Immaculate Conception
December 25-26 Christmas
School Holidays
School holidays are taken at the following times:
Christmas 2 weeks
February 5 days
Easter 11 days
White Sunday 4 days
Summer holidays 2 months
LENGTH OF STAY [1], [3]
The average length of an outbound holiday trip was 9.2 days in 2004 and 7.6 days in
2006. Countries providing the most overnights stays, Germany and the Netherlands,
recorded increases in nights spent of +0.1% and +2.7% respectively.
Period 1-3 days % of total 4 nights or more % of total
April–June 2006 1,911,210 29.11 2,078,790 31.67
July–September 2006 737,638 11.23 1,400,443 21.33

In 2006, 93.4 percent of Austrians’ holiday travel was during the spring and summer
(April–September). The number of nights spent on holiday in winter 2004/2005
increased by 1.9 percent over the same period in 2003/2004.
FREQUENCY OF TRAVEL [1]
Fifty-five percentof Austrians make an outbound trip at least once a year (2005).