Free drinks, nibbles and live music at your destination airport?
Written by Karen Bryan
Imagine that ten minutes after landing you have cleared passport control, picked up your luggage, you’re sipping a complimentary drink, munching on local delicacies whilst being entertained by a band playing local folk music. This must be a dream?
The welcome drinks and nibbles at Zadar airport
Well that was the reality at Zadar airport when the inaugural Ryanair flight from Edinburgh landed on 1 April 2009.
If only all airports laid on such a welcome. I think it would be a wise investment for tourist boards/airports to lay on this type of event as it leaves a very positive impression with travellers. Word of mouth recommendations to other potential visitors can be much more effective in influencing leisure destination choice than traditional advertising campaigns.
Wow, I haven’t heart about anything like that. This surprised me a lot. If i imagine free drinks, nibbles and live music at my destination airport I would feel like a princess or something :-)
Petra – yes it does make you feel like a valued visitor. It was a lovely selection of local acholic eg cherry brandy) and non alcholic drinks (eg prune juice) with dried fruits and freshly made small donuts and biscuits accompanied by a folk band.
I was fortunate to arrive at the same time in Zadar on a flight from Dublin and I was able to enjoy the same wonderful hospitality. I even ‘nicked’ a bottle of mineral water to take with me ! no prune juice for me alas :)
Paul – yes it was a wonderful welcome to Croatia. Some of my fellow travellers thought that the spread and music had been laid on by Ryanair. I thought this unlikely (well totally implausible) and when I asked I was told it had been arranged by the Zadar airport authority.
Was there no prune juice when you touched down or was that a safe choice not to imbibe?