survivor

If Austrians want to toy with Nazi ideas and sentiments all over again, they don't deserve any economic consideration. BOICOT Austria and their Hitler's followers.

Richard

Personally, I find it diffucult to give credence to anyone with a phoney email address.

elvira

And the inability to spell the HIGHLIGHTED word....

howard

Hey folks, the subject isn't anything to joke or take lightly!

elvira

Who's taking this as a joke? The subject matter is serious, but the poster is clearly trying to persuade English-speaking (probably American) travelers with poor spelling (come on, BOYCOTT?? How hard is that to spell? If you know the meaning, then know the spelling) and even worse grammar. <BR>If I felt strongly about a subject, I would certainly make sure I could express it clearly. <BR>I'm personally offended that someone would think that people on this forum need to be directed in this matter. We're pretty worldly and are aware of the situation in Austria; telling me to avoid a country infers I haven't enough sense to make an informed decision.

Richard

Mea culpa, I do know how to spell difficult, heat of the moment thing. It seems to me that Mr. Haider's Freedom Party was duly elected and so took it's rightful place in the government. I think many complacent Austrian voters adopted the attitude of many American voters, "my vote doesn't count", we can't fault the whole country for that. Mr. Haider's rhetoric galvanized enough voters so that he won, so let a lesson be learned, get out, vote your conscience.

steve

This whole thing is of great concern to me. We have non-refundable tickets in and out of Vienna next month. Our current plan is to take a train to Prague when we arrive and spend 3 days there and then return to Vienna for the last 3 days. I'm in hopes that the situation will not be so bad as for us to have to greatly alter our trip, but I certainly don't want to be in a hostile enviroment. Plus my personal political views are vastly in contrast to those being endorsed in Austria. <BR>I have been to Vienna but my travelling companion has not and we were looking forward to visiting there. <BR>Opinions, anyone?

D.B.

I think Germany should declare war on Austria, and teach them a lesson. <BR> <BR>Personally, I prefer the English spelling buoycott, derived from the Greek Latinate "bouis cottis" meaning one boy per cot (re: don't go there). <BR> <BR>

David

Okay...this is a travel forum and not a political forum. Well, travel does involve political ideas to a certain extent. Assuming that governments would allow it I would venture to say that many people would not wnat to travel to places like North Korea, Cuba or in the recent past, South Africa for political reasons. <BR>I think that Elvira may have overeacted by taking the post so "personally". <BR>Like clockwork, people post negative stories such as "I'm never going back to Rome because of the gypsies etc" <BR>Well, maybe "survivor" is in fact a "survivor" and feels compelled, just like the tourist who was mugged, to warn of a far greater danger that may be happening in Austria! <BR>Whether or not it exists because of a democratic election is irrelevant as if memory serves me correctly, Germany also had elections. If this forum can tolerate another "gypsie" story, surely, a quick message about hate, with or without spelling errors can be tolerated also.

bob

Send back Arnold Schwartzenegger! <BR>

Nabikov

Hey Steve, don't listen to all this right-wing banter. Go to Austria. The (mostly) American media is making this out to be much more than it is. All these Hitler references are idiotic and akin to calling Yugoslavia a war machine. There are no "fascists", no nazis, and nothing to worry about if you plan to travel in and around Austria. <BR> <BR>It never ceases to amaze me how people believe EVERYTHING they read. Use some common sense people!! The thought police are out there, believe me, and they want your mind under control!!

markizzy

I've read this posting with interest since 1) I'm Jewish and 2) I'm planning a group trip to Vienna and Zell am See for next year. We need to consider that the original message could, in fact, have been from a Holocaust survivor. The recent trouble in Austria is certainly disturbing, especially because my past travels have been very positive with great service and very friendly people everywhere we went (though I haven't been to Vienna). I'm holding off any thoughts of going elsewhere (probably Italy) for my ski trip until we see what comes out of this. However, my argument to my wife that, "there are just as many Nazi sympathsizers in Montana and Idaho (no offense) as there are in Austria" didn't hold much weight.

Phil

Richard: Haider's party din't exactly win the elections. They tied for second place with Schüssel's party. More than 70% of Austrians voted for other parties than Haider's. <BR> <BR>Nabikov: Haider, as government chief of Carinthia, appointed a fellow to be his cultural councillor who claims that there were no crematoriums in Auschwitz or any other concentration camp. Haider may be no nazi but he will bend over backwards to accomodate the extreme right, including old nazis and fascists. <BR> <BR>Just think about who rules Austria at this time and keep your eyes and ears open.

Richard

Phil, I didn't state they 'won' anything, they did capture enough seats to give them a say in a coalition. As for bending over to appease the extreme right, we have our share of those panderers right here in the good ol' USA.

mary lewis

I do think all travelers should give thought to the political climate in areas they are traveling for obvious safety reasons and also for reasons of conscious. Personally my husband and I were planning a 2 week trip to Austria (kind of a Mozart tour) in the fall but am having serious second thoughts about pouring a lot of tourist dollars into a country that seems to be tolerating and elevating "fringe" right wingers who in the past have intimated neo-nazi sentiments. Can't we learn from history - the Germans thought they could control Hitler too...Anyway, a comment also on the first poster not using a real email address - I never use mine here because I don't feel I need to share that as public information for security reasons, not because I am hiding something, he or she may have felt the same way.

top

The latest news on Austrian tourism..... <BR> <BR>'Austrian tourism suffers from backlash against right-wing party' <BR> <BR>February 21, 2000 <BR>Web posted at: 3:38 p.m. EST (2038 GMT) <BR> <BR>VIENNA (Reuters) -- Prince Charles did it, so did rock legend Lou Reed. <BR> <BR>Thousands of visitors are canceling trips to Austria, horrified by Joerg Haider's far-right party gaining power which has stoked fears of a neo-Nazi resurgence. <BR> <BR>The country's key tourism industry is already feeling the backlash of international outrage, but authorities warn that worse is still to come. <BR> <BR>"Austria is not very 'in' at the moment. It's not the fact that we're losing business now, but that we're losing business for the future," said Manfred Stallmajer, manager of Vienna's Triest Hotel, a favorite haunt of film stars and musicians. <BR> <BR>Haider's far-right Freedom Party joined Wolfgang Schuessel's center-right People's Party on February 4 to form a new coalition government. Heated international protests ensued from critics who fear Austria's shift to the right may be a morale boost for neo-Nazi and far-right groups. <BR> <BR>Hoteliers say more than 10,000 overnight stays have been canceled at the capital's top addresses already, amounting to millions of schillings in lost revenue. <BR> <BR>Tourism is vital to the wealthy Alpine republic -- it is one of the biggest employers, the main source of international currency earnings after industrial exports and generates annual revenue of around 200 billion Austrian schillings (US $14 billion). <BR> <BR>It has only just begun to recover in the last two years after posting steady declines since 1992. Industry officials warn against complacency about the fear of having a party in government that many believe espouses xenophobic policies. <BR> <BR>"All of us -- in politics and business -- must take these fears seriously and win back the trust of some of our guests through persuasion," said Elfriede Krempl, head of the Austrian Hotel Association. <BR> <BR>The association called on the coalition government of the conservative People's Party and the far-right Freedom Party to spend 300 million schillings ($22 million) on an advertising campaign to restore Austria's tarnished image. <BR> <BR>Stallmajer said it was impossible to quantify the long-term impact on the sector, given the role emotion plays in the choice of holiday destination. But judging from experience, he said the signs were not encouraging. <BR> <BR>Austria's wine industry has only just recovered from a scandal in 1985, when a small bunch of unscrupulous growers were caught using anti-freeze liquid to add body to cheap wine. <BR> <BR>Glycol became a by-word for Austrian wine and exports plunged to 1,000 hectolitres (26,000 gallons) from 300,000 (78,000 gallons) within a year. <BR> <BR>"The wine industry needed such a long time to destroy this bad image, to get it out of peoples' minds. How long will it take this time -- tourism is such an emotional thing," hotelier Stallmajer said. <BR> <BR>Formula One racing champion-turned-airline boss Niki Lauda said the welter of negative media reports from the North Pole to Cape Town were certainly bad for the airline industry. <BR> <BR>"There's no doubt that fewer passengers will come to Austria and that companies will consider whether they still want to come here," the head of Lauda Air told Kurier newspaper. <BR> <BR>For most people, the choice of airline was a matter of sympathy, Lauda added, and no amount of advertising would be able to make up for the damage to the country's reputation.

Valerie

Just to add my two cents, <BR>Nabikov: This is not a lot of American hype or over reporting. Since returning from Vienna several months ago and actually seeing Haider speaking, my husband and I were very interested in the outcome of all of this. In fact we could not get enough information from the American press and television that we had to watch the French news (France 2) and Italian TV (RAI) to get our information. They were/are reporting on it every single evening (we get broadcasts everyday in NYC area). French were wearing jewish stars in their EU/Parliment meetings as protest. So actually it is the Europeans that are making a big deal, not the Americans.

frank

Americans - do you think you should run your country according to what visiting tourists think?Would you get rid of a democratically elected representative because tourists don't like him? <BR> If not, why do you expect the Austrians to do the same? <BR> Serious economic sanctions agreed by governments are one thing, tourist boycotts inflamed by our untrustworthy media are a joke. <BR> Boycott schmoycott!

lola

"Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it." Think Neville Chamberlain. Protest with your wallet. In this new millennium may we gain in moral courage, and this is one way to start. I will not visit Austria or any other country where apologists for Nazi government are acceptable in high office.

dan woodlief

Well, I couldn't stay completely out of this one. On the one hand I can understand how someone who is truly a survivor would feel about this (at least as much as any non-survivor can understand). I also don't like it that Haider is in the Austrian government. On the other hand, no one has the right to interfere with the results of a democratic election. The parallels are certainly there in that Hitler and the Nazis were elected and made part of the German government. However, as far as I know, Haider does not have an SA and SS to go out on the street and beat up people for him. Therefore, unless his party wins a majority, I doubt you will see them in control. Plus, the times are just very different too. It was a little different with Germany too, in regards to the rights of other nations to intervene, because of a little thing known as the Versailles Treaty. If the Austrian government starts putting in place policies that have serious consequences for other nations or human rights in Austria, then the U.S., the European Union, and others have reason to act. Even now though there is nothing wrong with expressing concern over the course of Austrian politics.