DVD News

'Sound of Music' still a huge tourism boost for Salzburg

Jun 27, 2005, 12:10 GMT

Salzburg, Austria - "The Sound of Music" is still a huge tourism boost for the city of Salzburg 40 years after its filming, according to officials on Monday.

They said that 70 per cent of vacationers from overseas had been prompted to come to Salzburg by the filmed story of the Trapp family. "The Sound of Music" was thus directly responsible for one million to 1.2 million overnight stays each year in the province of Salzburg, the officials said.

The region would become even more well-known with a new DVD version of the film, accompanied by a documentary about Salzburg, the city's chief tourism official, Vice-Mayor Harald Preuner, told a press conference.

He said that each year 300,000 people visited the sites where the film was originally made. "The film is of immense importance to the city and province."

Manager of Salzburg province tourism Leo Bauerberger said the film was not only extremely well known in the United States, but also in Asia and other parts of the world.

Bert Fink, Vice-President of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, said that in November, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment would bring a new edition on DVD on to the world market, with special contributions, interviews with the two stars, Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, and extensive "making of" documentaries.

"Every household in the USA has a video at home, and soon everyone will have DVD", he said. The 1960s film "The Sound of Music" had taken the third highest box office earnings of any film in the world, he added.