Interreg is a joint initiative of the European Regional Development Fund. The “Livable Alpine Region” project aims to develop participatory solutions for sustainable tourism in the German-Austrian Alpine region. The management is Dr. in Herta Neiß (tourism management at the JKU Institute for Social and Economic History).

Together with project partners from the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (Mario Jooss), the Rosenheim Technical University (Andreas Straube), hublz (Barbara Pölzleithner), hey.bayern (Hans Wembacher) as technology partners, Chiemgau Tourismus (Stephan Semmelmayr), the Interior Tourism Association Salzkammergut (Christan Schirlbauer) as tourism partner and Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024 – European Capital of Culture (Stefan Heinisch), Salzkammergut Tourismus und Marketing GmbH (Michael Spechtenhauser) as associated partners and Upper Austria. Tourism (Doris Rom) in an advisory capacity, has now been working across borders for three years.

Include population

“It is important to us to develop innovative solutions for the sustainable development of tourism with a focus on culture in the project regions (Upper Austria, Salzburg and Bavaria) ,” says Neiß. Importantly: “ The needs of the regional population must be brought into harmony with tourism. “In workshops and a large-scale survey, the wishes of local people are collected and incorporated into the project ,” explains the JKU scientist.

Different areas, same challenges

The participating regions have a similar starting point with high tourist intensity and occasional peak loads, which need to be managed by broadening and making the existing offering more attractive. These will be supplemented with new experiences and played out on a digital, interactive platform. For example, augmented reality applications are used that guide you through virtual worlds as avatars, 360-degree videos and interactive games that are intended to whet your appetite for the respective regions.

“Our goal is to open up new groups of guests and get them excited about the participating regions,” says Neiß. The aim is to make tourism more resilient to random events.

The starting signal will be the first major congress, which will take place in the Salzkammergut in autumn 2023 in cooperation with the Capital of Culture 2024. This is dedicated to the topic of tourist intensities and peak loads and is intended to show innovative, future-oriented solutions.

Congress Alpine Region Worth Living

September 28, 2023
Hallstatt Culture & Congress Center

Information & registration here.