Our Activities
Danube Salon
An especially important marketing instrument is the Danube Salon, a specialised tourism trade fair staged by the Danube Tourist Commission. Since 2007 the Danube Salon has been held annually in conjunction with the actb – austrian and central european travel business in Vienna. The broad range of exhibitors includes national tourism organisations, regions, cities, shipping lines and other transportation companies. The opportunity for contacts with international buyers from prestigious firms make the event an invaluable platform for communication and gauging demand for tourism products on and along the Danube.
The results of an initial poll among buyers and exhibitors reflected overwhelmingly positive expectations for the forthcoming season based on advanced bookings, which in part exceed last year’s levels.
Shipping Conference
In 1997 the Danube Tourist Commission organized its first Danube Shipping Conference in Linz, where representatives of shipping companies, cruise operators, and tourist industry professionals had the opportunity to meet and exchange views. This successful initiative was followed up by meetings in Györ, Baden near Vienna, Bratislava, Passau, Belgrade, Vienna and Budapest. Since 2006 DIE DONAU also organises the hiking and biking conference, which takes place after the shipping conference. In 2007, the first Danube Biking and Hiking conference was organized in Neuburg/Donau in Germany. The conferences were held in Belgrade in 2008 and in Bucharest in 2009.
This year the Shipping Conference and Hiking/Biking Conference will take place in Budapest from November 30th until December 3rd.
Navigation Day
For the 1st celebration of Danube Day on June 29 2004 the Danube Tourist Commission cooperated closely with ICPDR. To mark the start of the shipping season, Danube Navigation Day is celebrated with cross-border festivities every year on the last Sunday in April. The Danube Tourist Commission also helped to develop this marketing event together with other organizations. In 2010 the Danube Navigation Day took place April 25th.
Homepage
The internet is a prime instrument for tourism marketing today. The Danube Tourist Commission recognized the importance of digital technologies years ago and launched the first version of its website www.danube-river.org in 1999. The website has since been further developed and enlarged to become the Commission’s most important marketing tool. With a wealth of information in compact form, facts and figures, and links to the websites of members, partners, and companies in the tourism business makes the Danube just a click away around the world. The website is updated frequently and offers a variety of user-friendly features including the latest news.
Danube Sales Manual
The Danube Sales Manual, whose production was sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Traffic, Innovation and Technology (bmvit), is available online at www.danubesalesmanual.com . The sales manual is the first international on-line sales guide providing information on cultural events, places of interest and tourism services along the Danube in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Romania.
Press Service & PR Work
The Danube Tourist Commission’s activities include the publication six times a year of the “Danube Press Service” in German and English. The Danube Press Service distributed around the world by e-mail currently reaches some 1,800 decision-makers and multipliers in the tourism industry. Intensive PR work and cultivation of media contacts, information activities, events, participation in trade fairs are other important marketing channels.
Co-operations & EU Projects
Another big part of the Danube Tourist Commission's work are Partnerships, for example with the Working Community of the Danube Regions or the Nationalpark Donau-Auen. The Danube Tourist Commission also participates in European Union projects, for example, the Destination Danube Donauhanse or ETZ "Sanfte Mobilität" by providing it's expert opinion, recent studies and brochures.
