Initiatives for Sustainable Winter Holidays

Sustainable Tourism = Habitat Management

Tourism may be described, without fear of exaggeration, as a “total work of art”. In order for it to function in the long term, many cogs need to interconnect, whilst the interests of locals must be addressed along with those of guests. That said, tourism is increasingly becoming a form of habitat management, flowing into which are the needs of all relevant interest groups. Mathias Schattleitner, General Manager of Schladming-Dachstein Tourist Office, together with his entire team, is 100% committed to ongoing development of the region in ways that are as balanced as possible: “We try to bring all stakeholders to the table regularly, so that we are pulling together towards long-term success. Current areas of focus include, for example, climate-friendly mobility solutions, promotion of regionality, management of visitor flow patterns as well as a wide-ranging information policy.”

Eco- and climate-friendly arrival and departure

Eco- and climate-friendly holidays begin with arrival and end with departure. To that end, from Christmas 2022 until mid-March 2023, Scandinavian guests will be able to take advantage of a direct train connection from Malmö (Sweden) via Copenhagen (Denmark) to Schladming. During this timeframe, Swedish railway company Snälltåget will offer a direct connection to Schladming every Friday and return service to Scandinavia on Saturday.

Within Austria, express trains run year-round directly from Vienna to Schladming, returning from Schladming to Vienna on Sunday. On Saturdays from 17.12.2022 to 08.04.2023, Austrian Railways will put on an additional direct express connection from Vienna to Schladming and return. From January

2023, a regular direct bus connection will be offered from Prague via Pisek and Budweis to the Schladming-Dachstein Region. The initiator of this service is the Čedok travel agency, with bus rides bookable online for everyone – also one-way.

Resource-saving mobility at your holiday destination

A significant component of resource-saving tourism is the mobility which is available at the actual tourism destination. Aside from ongoing expansion of public transportation, the wintertime focus of the Schladming-Dachstein Region is above all on its network of ski buses. This network may be used without restrictions and at no additional charge, simply by showing your ski pass. The first electric buses are now already operating as part of the ski-bus fleet.

Riesneralm: Award for “Sustainable Energy Management”

The Riesneralm in Donnersbachwald is doing what it can to ensure it leaves a positive “ecological footprint” – the only ski resort where the snowmaking infrastructure is connected directly to a hydropower station. This five-million-euro investment generates twice as much power as needed for the entire ski area including the lifts, dining establishments as well as snowmaking. The excess eco power is fed back into the public energy grid. For this project, the Riesneralm was presented with the award for “Sustainable Certified Energy Management”.

Eight hotels already with the Austrian Eco Seal

In the Schladming-Dachstein Region, eight hotel businesses are currently certified under the Austrian Eco Seal – representing almost 1,000 guest beds in total. Yet another six businesses are still in the certification process. At each certified establishment, the employees even receive special training to keep the environmental impacts of every guest visit to a minimum, whilst simultaneously not diminishing enjoyment of the holiday in the slightest. Other areas of focus include innovative solutions for heat recovery and acquisition of food products from regional partners. With respect to the latter, the Schladming-Dachstein Region has already built a strong network of over 60 partner businesses who have themselves earned AMA GENUSS REGION quality certification.