Time is running: Upper Austria’s 19 tourism associations have one year left to reorganize and move closer together. According to the new state tourism law, from January 1, 2025 there will be significantly fewer associations – and more efficiency. “I would prefer there not to be six tourism associations at one trade fair in Germany, but rather one region at six trade fairs in order to increase the impact,” says State Tourism Councilor Markus Achleitner (ÖVP).
Fears and confidence
It is not yet clear exactly how many tourism associations there will still be in a year. The first discussions are already underway between the associations, including in the Innviertel. “There are no concrete results yet, just initial discussions. Of course we are looking at the neighborhood,” says Entdeckerviertel managing director Georg Bachleitner. The tourism associations only merged four years ago, so he already has experience with mergers. There has already been discussion about this in the Discovery District supervisory board, but there is limited joy. There is a fear that smaller communities will be left behind with their offerings in an even larger association.
Gerald Hartl, managing director of the s’Innviertel Tourism Association, looks at the year more optimistically: “We will try to make the best of it and continue to market and sell our region as touristically as possible,” he says. The offers that define each region are on the table. “We will definitely achieve something good,” says Hartl, as the issues are not that far apart.
The Hausruckwald tourism association, which was only founded four years ago and consists of seven tourist communities around Vöcklabruck, is already looking for partners – in the north. According to tourism director Robert Herzog, discussions are ongoing with representatives of the regions “s’Innviertel” (Ried region), “Entdeckerviertel” (Braunau region) and the Vitalwelt Bad Schallerbach. But one thing is certain: the tourism regions have a lot to offer and they want to continue to exploit their individual strengths in the future. “For us, cross-border issues are a big issue. We focus on cooperation with Bavaria and the Salzburger Land. It works and we definitely want to keep it that way,” says Bachleitner. Tourism has only just recovered after the Corona years, the managing directors emphasized. In November, the number of overnight stays in the discovery quarter had already been surpassed from the strongest year to date, 2019. Hartl is also satisfied: “We are at the numbers from 2019, i.e. before Corona,” he says. This year, another overnight accommodation option will be created with the hotel along the B1 148. “We are definitely looking positively into the coming year,” he says. Herzog is also satisfied with last year’s results. The number of overnight stays in the region increased by 15 percent.
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Source: Nachrichten
