Balanced Tourism - Alpbachtal Tourismus
The Alpbachtal region – where life and holidays go hand in hand
Motivation and initial situation
Alpbachtal Tourism began developing a sustainability strategy in 2024. As a tourism association, we are not only responsible for visitors and businesses, but also for the people who live in the Alpbachtal destination. The funding from the Federal Ministry, which aims to support sustainable, balanced tourism, therefore came at an ideal time for us.
With the project ‘Lebensraum Alpbachtal – wo Leben und Urlaub Hand in Hand gehen’ (Alpbachtal – where life and holidays go hand in hand), we have set ourselves the goal of determining the importance and benefits of tourism in the Alpbachtal and deriving recommendations for action for the future design of the Alpbachtal living space.
Key milestones
Q3 2024:
Submission of the funding application, selection of project coordinator Gernot Paesold and planning of the next steps.
Q4 2024:
First, a LebensQualitMeter survey was conducted in the region by Kohl & Partner. A total of 1,128 survey participants from the three groups – population, businesses and employees – shared their assessment of quality of life, tourism and regional development. The overall rating was 70 out of 100 points: our region already offers a high quality of life and therefore a very good ‘grade’ in terms of tourism sentiment. Some areas for improvement were also identified, which were subsequently addressed.
Q1 2025:
The results of the survey were presented at stakeholder workshops held on 21 and 22 January 2025. Forty stakeholders from tourism, agriculture, business, associations, public transport, local government and youth organisations came together. Together, they derived options for action based on the LQM survey and, in a further step, prioritised these in relation to locals and visitors. The results were then discussed and reflected upon.
End Q1 2025:
On 28 March 2025, all 10 municipalities, the TVB board and the supervisory board were invited to a decision-makers' workshop. They were first presented with the results of the LQM survey and then had to prioritise specific areas for action based on the options already developed. Initial steps for implementation have already been defined for the five highest-priority areas. We were able to agree on important topics ranging from a regional mobility concept to a local resident card.
Alpbachtal, Tyrol
989,111 overnight stays, of which 59% were in summer and 41% in winter (tourism year 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2024)
The Alpbachtal holiday region in the heart of Tyrol, with its ten charming villages, is one of Austria's most unspoilt and best-known Alpine valleys. Guests and visitors particularly appreciate the preservation of traditions and customs, combined with high-quality events and conferences, a wide range of sporting activities and genuine hospitality.
More informations: www.alpbachtal.at
For further questions:
Birgit Angermair, Alpbachtal Tourismus
b.angermair@alpbachtal.at
Valentina Chesi, Alpbachtal Tourismus v.chesi@alpbachtal.at
Chances
A representative population survey creates the basis for open exchange and enables common interests to be identified. Our survey covered not only tourism-related topics, but also information relevant to municipalities and associations. Involving people in the region ensures that the issues that matter to them are addressed.
The diversity of perspectives enriches the discourse and contributes to viable and widely accepted decisions. Different points of view help to develop solutions that work in the long term and are supported by everyone.
Open dialogue not only reveals challenges, but also common values and goals. These insights form the basis for working together on solutions and strengthening mutual understanding. When ideas and measures are developed jointly, this creates strong legitimacy. People identify with the process and stand behind the results – an essential building block for sustainable regional development.
Experiences and challenges
The joint development served as an important legitimisation process to create broad acceptance for the sustainability strategy. The intensive exchange made it possible to identify different perspectives and understand them better, which enabled them to be specifically incorporated. Existing obstacles and concerns were also revealed, which in turn created an opportunity to develop targeted potential solutions to these challenges. Overall, there was a large common ground on what is sensible and desirable for the future of the region.
Future prospects
The next steps include the development of a living space development paper summarising the defined topics and options for action. This will be followed by the presentation of the results to the public.