Asia-Pacific News
Japanese tourists pay 300 euros for free concert
Jun 13, 2007, 7:39 GMT
Vienna - Japanese tourists were charged 300 euros (399 dollars) for tickets for a free open-air concert in Vienna, the Austrian newspaper Der Standard wrote in its Wednesday edition.
In Japan, trips to this year's free-for-all Concert for Europe, held in the park of Vienna's baroque Schoenbrunn Palace were sold.
The package did not include the concert ticket, for which customers were asked to pay 48,000 yen (approximately 300 euros) extra.
The annual classical music concert, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, is free to all comers. In 2007 the event drew around 140,000 visitors.
The concert organizers reserved around 100 seats for Japanese tour operators, the paper wrote, but said they had no idea that the tickets had been sold.
A leaflet advertised the concert ticket, including backstage- reception and a buffet, as well as a 'private concert' by the Vienna Philharmonic on the next day, in case of bad weather.
The concert organizers, as well as the orchestra and the Schoenbrunn palace management were quoted as saying they where appalled by this abuse.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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