With its pristine waters, snow-covered mountains and breathtaking Alpine views, the Austrian lakeside town of Zell am See is one of the top European destinations for visitors from the Gulf region.
And it aims to remain so, even though Austria introduced a ban on face-covering burqa or niqab veils a year ago.
The picturesque little town south of Salzburg with a population of 10,000 is regularly described as "paradise" in Arabic-language reviews online. It draws tens of thousands of visitors from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates or Oman every year.
They make up more than a quarter of all annual visitors and holiday brochures are readily available in Arabic.
So when Austria banned the wearing of burqas or niqabs in all public spaces in October 2017 -- under pain of fines of up to 150 euros ($170) -- the town's authorities knew that enforcing the rule could be a delicate matter. [AFP] Read more
