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Vienna (pte010/29.05.2013/08:57) - The director of the tourism and leisure branch of the Viennese chamber of commerce has called for more direct flights from Asia and the United States to the Austrian capital.

The number of overnight stays in Vienna dropped 7.2 percent in April - partly due to the fact that Easter was in March, unlike last year. Tourists from Germany, Italy, the US, Switzerland, France and Spain were top of the list of those who preferred to stay at home last month.

The director of the tourism and leisure branch of the Viennese chamber of commerce Josef Bitzinger said: "There are around 4.100 extra beds compared to last year, which is an increase of 7.7 percent. That's really a lot, and it shows in the fill rates in the industry."

Bitzinger wants to avoid the hotels being threatened by a lack of guests at all costs and has called for more direct, long haul flights to come to Vienna - especially from markets such as Asia and the United States. He said he thought the new direct flights to Chicago from mid-May are a step in the right direction.

Vienna's tourism industry counted 3,298,000 overnight stays between January and April this year - a 0.9 percent increase on the same time period in 2012.

The fall in the number of overnight stays was seen across all ranges in the hotel market. The bed occupancy rate was of 55.1 percent in April (64 percent in April 2012) and the room occupancy rate was of 68 percent last month, as compared to 79 percent in April last year.

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Submitter: pressetext / newsfox Contact: Michael Leidig Phone: +43 (0)1 917 51 18 E-Mail: leidig@newsfox.com Website: www.cen.at