Innsbruck Tourist Board Launches New Religious Travel Package

. November 10, 2009

NOVEMBER 9, 2009 - For the first time in its history, the Innsbruck Tourist Board has launched a definitive Religious Travel portfolio for the City and its 25 Holiday villages. Along with thematic tours and excursion, one aspect is the church service.

For any religious travel group staying in Innsbruck or its 25 holiday villages, the Innsbruck Tourist Board will arrange a church to open its doors for a private service for that Group, free of charge.

“We are very proud to be able to launch this new and innovative product on the eve of the World Travel Market 2009t and the World Religious Travel Expo in Reno Nevada,” said Nicholas Boekdrukker, Marketing Manager at the Innsbruck Tourist Board. “We are constantly faced with the challenge of providing a memorable experience for the tourists that visit our city every year. We believe that we have now developed a product that will give joy and pleasure to many religious tourists from around the world.”

The oldest church in Innsbruck is the Basilika Wilten which dates to at least 565 AD, where it was mentioned in a dispatch by a travelling Bishop. Innsbruck and its holiday Villages have 50 churches dating from that era to the present day. The average age of the churches is 200 years old.

The churches themselves are a testament to the important role religion has played over the centuries in Innsbruck's development and the development of the Austrian Empire from the dark days of early medieval Europe to the end of the 19th Century, when the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist.

“My favourite churches are the Basilika Wilten and the Imperial Church in the Old Town,” Said Mr Boekdrukker. “The Imperial tomb in the church has been recognized by UNESCO as one of the most important Imperial Tombs in the world, and I want to share this rich cultural and religious past that we have with religious groups, irrespective of their Faith, from around the world.”

“To that end we have developed a series of guided tours in the city as well as into the surrounding areas, to enable visitors to explore and share this wonderful heritage, “he added. “And if the group stays overnight in Innsbruck or its Holiday villages, then we will arrange for the group to have the exclusive use of the church for a private service, free of charge. I believe that it will appeal to the huge number of American religious groups that travel the world, to be able to celebrate their own faith in a church that is four or five hundred years old.” The program is available to all religious travel groups.

For further information and a brochure send an email with your contact details to [email protected]