So you're about to head to Austria for a few days of meetings. All your bags are packed, you're ready to go. You're standing there outside your door. And you realize: you have no idea what Austria is like.

Sure, you know where you're staying. Maybe you've got a guidebook that says where to visit if you manage to scrape together a few hours of sightseeing. But what's Austria really like? More practically:

How should you greet your business partners?

If you're invited to someone's house, should you be on time? What sort of gift should you bring? If flowers are OK, what kinds of flowers are appropriate--or inappropriate? Should you bring an odd number of flowers or an even number?

Are there any special considerations for female travelers?
Or female business associates?

What do the electrical outlets look like?

Perhaps most importantly: if you order the gluehwein, what on Earth is that going to look like?


Austria: Business Traveler's Passport is an iPhone app for business travelers. It contains a few hundred pages of information on Austria, focusing on areas of particular concern to the business traveler. While it does contain a small amount of information on hotels and sightseeing opportunities, these sections are intentionally light. Instead, it has entire sections of information on:

• Austria Basics: A brief history of Austria, with some background and historical highlights.
• Country Facts: demographics and other statistical data.
• Doing Business: Greetings & courtesies, meeting protocol, business attire, business entertaining, etc.

• Women: As travelers, are there any special considerations in Austria? As a businesswoman, are any extra measures needed? How are Austrian women treated in their own country?

• Money: What does the money look like? How much should different service people be tipped, if at all?

• Travel: Visa info, embassy & consulate locations, departure formalities, electrical system, etc.

• Safety: Emergency numbers, notes on street crime, health & medical care

• Points of Interest: Some interesting museums and cultural sites, in case there's time in between meetings.

• City Views: Background on Vienna and Salzburg, with a handful of hotel descriptions.
• Telephone System: The subtleties of dialing from & to Austria. There's even a section on how to use the different Austrian pay phones.
• Life Cycle: From birth to marriage to old age, what's life like?
• Gift Giving: A few pages on the subtleties of giving personal or business gifts.

• Holidays and Festivals: Solid background on the popular holidays and festivals.
• Religion: Background on Austria's varying religious climates.
• Superstitions and Folklore: Common superstitions, along with Austrian stereotypes.

• Food and Recipes: Descriptions of common Austrian foods, along with recipes for several dishes, including liptauer, krautsalat, Vienna goulash, apfelstrudel, and Austrian Gugelhupf.

• Terms Dictionary: Over 100 words & phrases translated into German, with audio recordings available to play.
• Embassies and Consulates: Embassy locations and contact info for 100+ countries.
  

Being part of the Business Traveler's Passport series means that the app also has easy navigation, editable bookmarks, changeable font sizes, and an array of text & background color choices. If you've got any questions, do drop us a note!