Challenges and opportunities: tourism in the Alpine Adria room in focus

Challenges and opportunities: tourism in the Alpine Adria room in focus

In the picturesque backdrop of the Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Carinzia in Tröpolach, an international symposium on the future of tourism took place in the Alpine Adria region from October 22nd to 24th, 2024. 65 participants from different countries discussed current challenges and strategies to promote tourism in this important region.

The symposium leader, Prof. Dr. Peter Jordan , welcomed those present and presented the speakers who come from Austria and Southeast Europe. In his opening speech, Mayor DI Leopold Astner emphasized the central role of summer and winter tourism for the local economy. Markus Brandstätter , Managing Director of NLW, presented specific offers and planned projects, in an endeavor to develop the region to develop the most sustainable in Austria, with the aim of achieving the Austrian Eco Label

The topics of the symposium

The experts illuminated several key questions, including the effects of climate change on tourist activities. One of the central considerations was whether skiing will continue to be possible in the future when natural snow becomes rare. At the same time, the question arose whether the beaches remain attractive to bathers in the long term if the summer temperatures in adjacent regions are more pleasant.

In addition, the problem of climate protection was discussed. Many tourismists fear that the dependence on private traffic in special times of the increasing fuel price and increasing traffic restrictions could become intolerable. Another topic was the future of tourism in rural outskirts, in which demographic changes make it difficult to recruit seasonal workers. This could lead to tourism being borne by foreigners while the locals can remain and the region can hardly benefit.

On the agenda there were also changes in the tourist visitor patterns. The new reality of the less attractive winter sports conditions and hotter summer could mean that the high season flattened and distributed more evenly over the year - this could increase capacity utilization and improve economy.

As part of the symposium, 33 lectures and 2 poster presentations from countries such as Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and Albania were kept. The highlights included the keynote presentations of Lea Hartl and Andrea Fischer , which dealt with glacier changes, as well as Anton Gosar , a leading geographer that talked about over-tourism. In addition, Daniela Soldić Frleta presented the development opportunities in the Croatian Kvarner area.

The event was carried out in English and thus offered international guests the opportunity to pursue what is happening. The event, which also took place in honor of the important Croatian tourism geographer Zlatko Pepoonik , which died 20 years ago, was a successful step into the future of tourism in the Alpen-Adria region.

The symposium was organized by Germany Southeast Europe (SOG), the Austrian Geographical Society, the Institute for Geography and Regional Research at the University of Klagenfurt and numerous other academic institutions. Such meetings are essential in order to secure tourism in the face of the challenges of climate change and the changing market conditions in the long term. You can find more information in a detailed report gailtal-journal.at .