Author: Sustainable Tourism Silke Dannhofer, BSc K01157583, 973

Perspectives: Submission: Institute of Corporate and Regional Challenges and Environmental Management

Opportunities for Thesis Supervisor: a.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Reinhold Priewasser Regions in the Assistant Thesis Supervisor European Union and Univ.-Ass.in Romana Stögmüller, MSc

Austria with a special September 2019 focus on the region of the Salzkammergut

Master’s Thesis to confer the academic degree of Master of Science In the Master’s Program General Management

JOHANNES KEPLER UNIVERSITÄT LINZ Altenberger Straße 69 4040 Linz, Österreich www.jku.at DVR 0093696

SWORN DECLARATION

I hereby declare under oath that the submitted Master’s Thesis has been written solely by me without any third-party assistance, information other than provided sources or aids have not been used and those used have been fully documented. Sources for literal, paraphrased and cited quotes have been accurately credited.

The submitted document here present is identical to the electronically submitted text document.

Hipping, September 16, 2019

Silke Dannhofer

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

After completing my master’s thesis, it is important to me to thank everyone who accompanied and supported me during this beautiful and sometimes exhausting time.

Above all, I want to thank my parents Barbara Rettenegger and Anton Dannhofer for 33 years of support in all my projects. You have always believed in me and encouraged me in every way. I would never have come this far without you! I also have to especially thank my two wonderful children Elena and Philipp, who always helped me find the necessary balance to stressful university life with their cheerful and joyful nature.

Special thanks go to my scientific supervisors at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Univ.-Ass.in Romana Stögmüller MSc, and a.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Reinhold Priewasser, who accompanied me during this process and supported me at all times.

Of course, I would also like to thank all my interview partners, who took the time to provide me with their expert knowledge and thus significantly contributed to the success of this thesis.

Finally, I would like to thank all my fellow students and friends who accompanied me during this time and have always motivated me. You have given me strength and determination and have made my studies an incredibly beautiful and unforgettable time.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ...... 1 1.1. Problem Description ...... 1 1.2. Research Objectives ...... 4 1.3. Organization of the Research ...... 5 2. Conceptual Background ...... 7 2.1. Tourism ...... 7 2.1.1. Tourism and Leisure Economy ...... 7 2.1.2. Challenges for Tourism ...... 9 2.2. Sustainable Tourism ...... 13 2.2.1. Definition and Development of the Sustainability Concept ...... 13 2.2.2. Definition and Development of Sustainable Tourism ...... 16 2.2.3. Tourism within the UN Sustainable Development Goals ...... 21 3. Sustainable Tourism at a European Level...... 26 3.1. Statistical Facts and Characteristics of the Tourism Sector ...... 26 3.2. EU Tourism Policies and Initiatives ...... 29 3.2.1. Milestones in the 1990s ...... 31 3.2.2. Political steps in the following decades ...... 33 3.2.3. European Tourism Indicators System for Sustainable Destination Management ...... 36 3.2.4. International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development ...... 37 3.3. Tourist flagship regions in the EU ...... 37 3.3.1. National and natural parks in Spain and Paradores ...... 37 3.3.2. South Sardinia, Italy...... 39 3.3.3. South West Wales, England ...... 40 3.3.4. Cairngorms National Park, Scotland ...... 41 4. Sustainable Tourism in Austria ...... 43 4.1. The Economic Role of Austria’s Tourism ...... 43 4.1.1. Macroeconomic perspective ...... 43 4.1.2. Corporate perspective ...... 44 4.1.3. Tourism demand in Austria ...... 46 4.2. Societal and Cultural Perspectives within Austria’s Tourism ...... 48 4.3. Environmental Dimension of Austria’s Tourism ...... 51 4.4. National Programs and Initiatives ...... 56 4.4.1. Tourism Governance in Austria ...... 56 4.4.2. ÖSTRAT ...... 57

September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer I

4.4.3. “klimaaktiv” Initiative ...... 59 4.4.4. Masterplan Tourism ...... 59 4.5. Sustainability labels, standards and indicators with relevance for Austria ...... 60 4.6. Model Regions of Sustainable Tourism ...... 64 4.6.1. Seeham, Salzburg ...... 64 4.6.2. Pielachtal, Lower Austria ...... 65 4.6.3. Kitzbühel, Tyrol ...... 65 4.6.4. Schmittenhöhe, Salzburg ...... 66 4.6.5. Hinterstoder, Upper Austria and Pearls of the Alps ...... 67 5. Tourism in the Salzkammergut Region ...... 68 5.1. An Introduction to the Salzkammergut ...... 68 5.2. Tourism development and current state ...... 70 5.2.1. Market Segments of the Salzkammergut ...... 70 5.2.2. Economical Perspective and Statistical Facts ...... 73 5.2.3. Local Networks and Cooperations ...... 76 5.3. Sustainability trends and challenges ...... 79 5.3.1. Mobility ...... 80 5.3.2. Climate Change ...... 82 5.3.1. Secondary Residences ...... 83 5.3.2. Mass tourism ...... 85 5.3.3. Seasonal Expansion ...... 87 5.3.1. Digitalization ...... 88 5.4. Comparison of the Salzkammergut with model regions in the EU and Austria ...... 90 5.5. SWOT-Analysis of the Salzkammergut ...... 93 5.6. Development options towards a more sustainable tourism in the region of Salzkammergut ...... 95 5.6.1. Resource efficiency and preservation ...... 95 5.6.2. Mobility Concept ...... 96 5.6.3. Strengthening regional value added ...... 97 5.6.4. Marketing strategy ...... 99 6. Conclusion ...... 101 7. References ...... 104 8. Appendix...... 120 8.1. Appendix 1 – Sustainable Development Goals and Targets ...... 120 8.2. Appendix 2 – Key indicators and associated measures from an organizational perspective ...... 121 8.3. Appendix 3 – ETIS core indicators ...... 122 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer II

8.4. Appendix 4 – Organizational Structure of Tourism in Austria ...... 124 8.5. Appendix 5 – Semi-structured Interview Guideline ...... 125

September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer III

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Tourism and its intersections ...... 8 Figure 2: The three pillars of Sustainability as intersections ...... 15 Figure 3: From Nature to Sustainable Tourism...... 19 Figure 4: Six essential elements for delivering the SDGs ...... 22 Figure 5: Direct Contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP ...... 26 Figure 6: Number of nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments, EU-28, 2000-2017 ...... 29 Figure 7: EU policies and initiatives over time ...... 30 Figure 8: Development of Overnight Stays in Austria...... 47 Figure 9: Main factors that affect the relationship of the environmental load-bearing capacity ...55 Figure 10: Austrian Ecolabel for tourism businesses ...... 61 Figure 11: EMAS Logo ...... 61 Figure 12: The EU Ecolabel ...... 61 Figure 13: No. of tourism companies certified with the Austrian vs. EU Ecolabel for tourism...... 62 Figure 14: The Region of the Salzkammergut ...... 68 Figure 15: Trend of overnight stays and arrivals in the Salzkammergut 2002-2018 ...... 73 Figure 16: Proportion of overnight stays per sub-region ...... 74 Figure 17: Sustainable Mobility Concept in Conjunction with a Smartphone App ...... 97 Figure 18: A Tree for your Booking ...... 99

September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer IV

List of Tables

Table 1: Percentages of ETIS indicators calculated in the VSS project for each ETIS category .40 Table 2: SWOT Analysis of the Salzkammergut – Strengths and Weaknesses...... 93 Table 3: SWOT Analysis of the Salzkammergut – Opportunities and Threats ...... 94

September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer V

List of Abbreviations

BMNT Bundesministerium für Nachhaltigkeit und Tourismus BMWFW Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft CNPA Cairngorms National Park Authority COIN Cost of Inactivity CSD Commission on Sustainable Development CSR Corporate Social Responsibility EDEN European Destinations of Excellence EMAS EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme ENRD European Network for Rural Development ETIS European Tourism Indicators System EU European Union FUMO Local Action Group Fuschlsee-Mondsee GDP Gross domestic product GSTC Global Sustainable Tourism Council LAGs Local Action Groups LES Local Development Strategy MDGs Millennium Development Goals NSTRAT Österreichische Strategie für Nachhaltige Entwicklung ÖSTRAT Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Federal Government and Federal Provinces RDPs Rural Development Programs REGATTA LEADER region Attersee-Attergau REGIS Regional Development Inner Salzkammergut REGMO Regional Development Mondseeland SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SMEs Small and medium-sized companies SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats TOUERM Tourism and Environment Reporting Mechanism TSA Tourism Satellite Accounts TSG Tourism Sustainability Group UN United Nations UNEP United Nations Environment Program UNWTO United Nations World Tourism Organization VSS Visit South Sardinia WTTC World Travel & Tourism Council

September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer VI

Abstract

Sustainable tourism and its underlying economic, environment and social dimensions have become an increasingly important topic over the past few years and has spread its attention on an institutional, (inter-)national, regional and corporate level. In many regions, sustainable tourism represents a valuable source of economic growth, domestic value added as well as a large source of employment. At EU and national level, great efforts have been made to promote and foster tourism in Austria that meets specific sustainability criteria. Some flagship regions have already successfully managed certain aspects of sustainable tourism and are often supported by funding systems from the EU, but also in Austria. Thereby, most important is managing sustainable tourism at a local level. With a specific focus on the region of the Salzkammergut, this master’s thesis highlights the challenges and opportunities brought about by sustainability. The Salzkammergut has a centuries-old tradition and expertise as a popular holiday region. Nevertheless, the region will also face some challenges and risks in the future. These have to be addressed within sustainable tourism management, so that it can continue on its successful path in a sustainable way and essential parts of its fundamental basis of tourism, like the idyllic natural landscape or its historical-cultural heritage, are not irrevocably destroyed.

September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer VII

1. Introduction

1.1. Problem Description

The tourism industry represents one of the largest industry sectors in the global economy. As the fastest growing service sector, tourism also constitutes a valuable source of economic growth, domestic value added and employment.1

In the European Union (EU), the total contribution of the tourism sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) was 10.3 percent in 20182, and it is forecasted to increase by over 2 percent pa by 2027.3 For some sub-regions like Central Europe, the growth rates are currently expected to exceed 3 percent up to this time.4

However, tourism has not only had positive effects on tourist destinations. An increasing number of guests, their changing expectations and their travel behaviors leave their marks on various tourist regions. Tourism not only means crossing visible national borders but also being in contact with (in)visible cultural borders, as it is closely related to a social responsibility towards tourists and the inhabitants of tourist destinations. Thus, each encounter leaves its mark on guests and hosts, whereby positive impressions are particularly important to ensure that guests will return.5

In addition, environmental conditions like pollution due to resource and land use, increased greenhouse gas emissions or impacts on biodiversity are conditioned by the rising tourism sector.6 Further to the challenges posed by the tourists themselves, the industry also has to face geopolitical turbulences.7 Threats and changes in the experiential space of tourists due to, for instance, the worldwide observable phenomenon of climate change have created the necessity to adapt, to not losing the basis of a major economy in tourist regions.8 Although the current changes and their impact on the tourism sector are mostly difficult to evaluate and predict, there is general agreement that sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the context of tourism.

The term ‘sustainability’ originates from the timber industry, where it signified that wood should only be felled to the extent that it can be (re-)cultivated to ensure that is used continuously, consistently and sustainably. Today, the term goes beyond the mere supply of raw materials and encompasses three dimensions: ecological, economic and social sustainability.9 In general, the concept of sustainable development has spread its attention on an institutional, (inter-)national

1 Cp. OECD 2016a, p. 3 2 Cp. European Parliament 2019, p. 1 3 Cp. WTTC 2017, p. 1 4 Cp. UNWTO 2016, p. 20 5 Cp. BMWFW 2014, p. 3 6 Cp. Malik et al. 2016, p. 24192 7 Cp. OECD 2016a, p. 3 8 Cp. Steiger et al. 2017, p. 28 9 Cp. Promberger et al., 2006, p. 1 f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 1/137 and corporate level. Here, the basic idea of this concept that was initially established by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 198710 has not changed until today and has led to a paradigm shift in our global society.11 Sustainability is particularly important because it focuses on the quality of life of present and future generations. Thus, sustainable development means meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.12

With respect to the tourism sector, international institutions are increasingly trying to establish the principles of sustainability with its underlying three pillars social, environmental, economic, known as the concept of sustainable tourism. An important goal of sustainable tourism is to create a balance between the use of resources, the welfare of the local community and the preferences or needs of consumers. It is only under these conditions that the local economies and communities can benefit from enhancing sustainable tourism. To raise more awareness for this issue, the United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) declared 2017 the “International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development”13. Based on the “Universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” established by the UNWTO in 2015, the aim was to create awareness for a more sustainable tourism and address governments and policy makers, tourists and business practitioners in the tourism sector. Due to the significant size of this economic sector, tourism can greatly contribute to meeting the SDGs. 14

As the world’s leading travel destination15, sustainable tourism also has enormous significance for Europe. Even if there is no harmonization of tourism laws within the EU treaties, the EU plays an important role through the legislation of related EU policies or in terms of financial and informational support.16 In 2010, the EU Commission established a tourism strategy called “Europe, the world’s No1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe”17. This tourism action framework focuses on four priority areas of action and should be implemented in tight cooperation with the main players in the tourism industry and the Member States. Aside from an increased competitiveness of tourism in Europe, making the best use of the potentials of EU policies and financial instruments for the development of tourism, it also focuses on promoting sustainable, responsible tourism.18

Austria is one of the most popular travel destinations in the EU. Furthermore, it is the most visited European country in terms of skiing-related winter tourism.19 The Austrian national anthem already

10 WCED 1987, p. 8 11 Cp. Austria Tourism 2012, p. 2 12 Cp. WCED 1987, p. 8 13 UNWTO 2017b 14 Cp. UNWTO 2017a, p. 15 15 Cp. CSES 2013, p. 5 16 Cp. Juul 2015, pp. 15 ff 17 European Commission 2010 18 Cp. European Commission 2010, p. 5 19 Cp. Damm et al. 2017, p. 40 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 2/127 mentioned its many treasures: whether the beautiful landscape, rich natural resources or historic buildings – all of this makes Austria attractive for tourists.

Based on these descriptions, the Austrian tourism sector cannot ignore the emerging changes that are increasingly calling for a more sustainable tourism to avoid losing the basis of this important domestic sector in Austria. On a national level, the federal ministries of Austria were commissioned to coherently implement the 2030 agenda. As a first result, the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs published a document showing the contributions of the Federal Ministries to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by Austria in 2017. This document states that Austria is prepared to work towards implementing the 2030 Agenda at a national, regional and international level by the year 2030 and take concrete steps to achieve the sustainable development goals.20 Furthermore, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, Family and Youth, Section Tourism and Historical Objects has been focusing on the effects of climate change on Austrian tourism and possible adaptation options for several years now.21 In 2019, the most up-to-date political step in the area of sustainable tourism was made with the presentation of the “Masterplan Tourism”. These elaborations show that on a national level, the Austrian political institutions have recognized the urgency of sustainability and the new challenges the tourism sector is facing as a result.

However, from a local perspective, what do these initiatives and declarations mean for specific tourist regions? The question of the optimal number of tourists for a specific region as well as concrete actions and recommendations for a more sustainable tourism region cannot be answered in general. The load limit is essentially dependent on characteristics of tourists and the local population as well as on regional characteristics. Even if sustainability indicators for the tourism and hospitality sector already exist at an enterprise level, statistical parameters for tourism, such as the number of overnight stays or sales, have not yet been recorded and evaluated in the light of ecological or social effects.22 Tourism influences several areas of life and has many potentials to positively influence and promote ecological, economic and social development processes, for instance by strengthening the regional development. As a study conducted in 2015 by the Umweltdachverband of Austria (a central information and network platform in the field of environmental policy, environmental law and environmental education) shows, tourism has an outstanding economic importance for environmentally protected areas. The study also highlights that the number of overnight stays can be used to estimate employment equivalents resulting from the added value created by visitors of protected areas. These effects are even more significant because protected areas are generally not randomly distributed across Austria. Therefore, tourism

20 Cp. Bundeskanzleramt 2017, p. 6 21 Cp. BMWFW 2015a, p. 13 22 Cp. Leodolter/Kaske 2017, p. 95 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 3/127 creates better income opportunities for these rather economically disadvantaged regions with a low-income level.23

As one of the largest tourist regions in Austria, a large part of the economy in the Salzkammergut is based on its tourism sector. Located at the northern edge of the Alps, the Salzkammergut offers a varied portfolio for tourists. Aside from historic cities like Bad Ischl or Hallstatt, the region has numerous lakes such as the Attersee, which is known for its drinking water quality, and ski resorts like the Feuerkogel or the Dachstein. One particular part of the Salzkammergut region – the Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut region – has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997.24 Therefore, tourism not only has a high priority for the sustainable preservation of all the natural and cultural resources of this region, but also for its future regional development.

1.2. Research Objectives

In view of the aspects presented, it is obvious that the Salzkammergut region is very popular among tourists and offers a wide range of activities for everyone – activities in the winter and summer seasons as well as tourist activities that are offered all year round, such as historic city lovers. Therefore, the tourism sector has a high priority for the entire Salzkammergut. By focusing on sustainable tourism, this region could develop new opportunities for positioning itself within international competition as well as preserve the foundations of the overall tourist region in a sustainable way.

In order to strive for a sustainable tourism development, it is necessary to transfer the objectives of all areas of sustainable development (environmental, economic, social) to tourism. In addition, it is also important to develop visions for the future that represent the aspirational, yet often hard to reach best-case scenario.25

By specifically focusing on the Salzkammergut region, this master’s thesis investigates the following research questions:

- Which efforts are being made at a European level in the context of sustainable tourism and what is the situation of sustainable tourism in Austria? - What is the current state of sustainable tourism in the Salzkammergut region? What are the region’s strengths and weaknesses within this context?

23 Cp. Umweltdachverband 2015, p. 52 24 Cp. UNESCO World Heritage Centre 1998, p. 5 25 Cp. Austria Tourism 2012, p. 2 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 4/127

- What are the major challenges to sustainability and potential opportunities that the Salzkammergut has to face and how can they be dealt with and marketed in order to improve the region’s competitiveness? - Are there existing models for sustainable tourism in other European and Austrian regions that can be applied to the Salzkammergut?

1.3. Organization of the Research

First, the conceptual background of this master’s thesis as a theoretical basis is described, whereby two main aspects are important: the concept of tourism and the leisure economy in which its different spheres of activities are explained as well as the biggest (sustainability) challenges for this industry sector. The next subchapter expands on the theoretical relation to sustainable tourism. Starting with the development of the underlying concept of sustainability, this section provides a general definition of sustainable tourism and differentiates the term from related sub- concepts like ecotourism.

Based on this theoretical understanding of sustainable tourism, the subsequent part focuses on sustainable tourism at a European level. As a starting point, this chapter presents statistical facts on EU tourism to give a preliminary overview of the significance of this sector. Afterwards, the ambitions of the European Commission in the context of sustainable tourism are described.

The following section is dedicated to the tourism sector in Austria and begins with an examination of the position of Austrian tourism in relation to the three dimensions of sustainability. In the discussion of the economic dimension of sustainability, statistically relevant data from an economic perspective, including financial and enterprise facts, are presented. The following sub- section elaborates on the social aspects of Austria’s tourism. The last part focuses on the ecological dimension of sustainability. Based on empirical studies, the ecological impacts influencing Austrian tourism and the effects tourism has on the environment are summarized. Finally, regional programs and development strategies that relate to and support sustainable tourism and are being successfully applied in different Austrian tourist regions are described. In addition, existing sustainability labels and standards with relevance for the Austrian tourism sector are discussed. These parts of the master’s thesis are based on a hermeneutic approach, to gain insights by consulting different sources of literature.

Following these theoretical presentations and a consideration of the current position of Austria, the next chapter focuses on the Salzkammergut region. In order to answer the research questions, insights of current literature and empirical studies of regions that work in the same area of tourism or are met with comparable challenges relating to sustainable tourism due to similar geographical conditions, are connected with the Salzkammergut. Furthermore, a predominately internet-based

September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 5/127 research was carried out to find initial reference points for sustainable tourism, as not much information is available on this specific region in academic literature. To identify further aspects relating to the research questions, semi-structured interviews with tourist experts were conducted as a qualitative empirical foundation to fill the remaining gaps. A semi-structured guideline was prepared for these interviews (see Appendix 5). The transcripts are available in electronic form at the Institute of Corporate and Regional Environmental Management ([email protected]).

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2. Conceptual Background

2.1. Tourism

2.1.1. Tourism and Leisure Economy

In order to provide a basic introduction to tourism, this section presents a definition of the term and gives an overview of the fields of activity within the tourism industry.

Tourism can be understood as the phenomena and relationships connected with leaving one’s usual center of life and staying at another destination or traveling to another region. Constitutive elements of the concept of tourism are the change of location, the temporary stay and the motive of the journey. With regard to the temporary stay, it is important to distinguish between tourists and visitors. While a person who stays at a given travel destination for a minimum of one night is considered a tourist and is included in the usual statistics within the tourism sector, a day guest (without an overnight stay) only counts as a visitor.26

Mill/Morrison (1992) understand tourism not as an industry but as “an activity engaged in by people who travel”27. This activity led to points of contact and interfaces in other industries and economic sectors. In general, tourism is part of the leisure industry, which includes a total of eight sectors or subsystems. However, leisure time offers often include components that can be assigned to two or more industries (e.g. offers in cultural, sports or educational tourism), so that the transitions between the individual subsystems or industries are sometimes fluid. Leisure refers to the time that people use outside their profession to individualize, socialize, experience and regain their strength. The leisure industry describes the totality of the production and service enterprises that offers products or services that are consumed or used during leisure time for a certain price. There are a number of companies involved in the creation of partial supply chain services for the provision of these services.28 Therefore, the leisure and tourism industry is very essential for a large number of economic sectors.29

At an international level, there is an almost unanimous view in literature of what tourism signifies.30 The abovementioned views on the definition of tourism e.g. are combined within the official glossary of tourism terms by the UNWTO, which defines tourism as

“a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists;

26 Cp. Freyer 2009, p. 1 ff 27 Mill/Morrision 1992, p. 7 28 Cp. Bär 2006, p. 11 29 Cp. Klein-Vielhauer 2008, p. 447 30 Cp. Bär 2006, p. 8 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 7/127

residents or nonresidents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure.”31

As Figure 1 shows, tourism includes the sub-disciplines economics, political institutions and legal framework, individuals and their general leisure behavior, ecology and finally society.

Economics Political (Economic Institutions Development & Legal & Business Framework Activities)

Society Individum (Personality (Values & Tourism their change) traits; travel needs)

General Ecology Leisure Behavior

Figure 1: Tourism and its intersections Source: own compilation based on Freyer 2009, p. 47

Even if this broad view of tourism is considered to be very uniform in the literature, there are several possibilities for a narrower definition. Detailed terms border tourism mainly on location and distance (local, long-distance, rural tourism), time and travel duration (short-term vs. holiday tourism) or travel motives (recreation, business, pleasure).32

Rural tourism, for instance, is seen differently by the EU and the UNWTO; while the EU rather focuses on guests’ travel motives, the UNWTO focuses on the rural location itself. In general, rural tourism is a form of tourism that is widespread in the Alps – not in large cities and resorts or recreational areas like ski resorts. However, rural tourism also includes these activities and offers that are carried out from the alpine centers and the surrounding rural areas. This also applies to guests who do not stay in a rural area, but in an urban environment. Typical activities of rural tourism are hiking, nature sports and excursions in nature or activities related to agriculture.33

31 UNWTO n.d., p. 1 32 Cp. Bär 2006, p. 8 33 Cp. Siegrist 2012, p. 335 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 8/127

From a supplier perspective, the fields of activities within the tourism industry can be roughly distinguished by different actors like hospitality (accommodation and catering), tour operators and travel agencies, modes of transport (including air, rail, road and boat) as well as the destinations themselves.34 With reference to statistical evaluations, a tourism year is also separated into the summer and winter seasons internationally. Officially, the summer season lasts from May, 01 to October, 31 of each year and the following winter season from November, 01 to April, 30 of the following year.35

As already mentioned in the introduction, tourism represents a valuable source of economic growth, domestic value added as well as a large source of employment as the fastest growing service sector. Nevertheless, tourism has to face various challenges.36

2.1.2. Challenges for Tourism

As has already been shown in Figure 1, the tourism industry is a complex system influenced by the interfaces of other subareas and conditions. These factors and their interplay can be perceived as drivers for the challenges that tourism is confronted with. Knowledge of the major developments of the tourist market is essential for tourism providers, politics and those involved in tourism management.

Like many other industries, the tourism sector has to deal with new consumer trends, which are particularly reflected by an increasingly experienced economy and customization. Thus, an extensive offer and the supply of products and services can no longer be distinguished based on classical characteristics like quality, as customers today are looking for other aspects when making their choice.37 Empirical evidence shows that the steadily growing demand for individual service and concrete care of guests by experts has also come to the fore in the tourism sector. The challenge is to find the best possible offers for unmissable megatrends such as an increasing nutritional awareness, gender specific travel or active aging travel. The corresponding branding is unavoidable, which is why individual tourism businesses have to differentiate themselves from their competitors.38 Based on the increased wealth especially in the industrialized countries, the focus on the individual rises. Soft features like self-determination and realization are the new values that are upheld by society. For this reason, an increased part of the market activity is no longer based on conventional standards but must be tailored to the needs of individual guests, away from recognizable and homogenous target groups towards many different heterogeneous niche groups. The combination of a higher number of visits with a shorter duration has the effect

34 Cp. Mundt 2006, pp. 253 ff 35 Cp. Statistik Austria 2017, p. 15 36 Cp. OECD 2016a, p. 3 37 Cp. ECORYS 2009, p. 155 38 Cp. Pitters 2015, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 9/127 that tourists are less loyal to the destinations, which, in turn, makes marketing destinations more complex.39 At the same time, an individualized demand has led to an altered need of higher skilled employees and professionalism in this sector.40 With respect to these facts, it is crucial for tourism businesses to recognize and respond to this trend.41

The invention of the Internet and its evolution into Web 2.0 has brought fundamental changes not only to the global economy but also to tourism. The increased digitalization within the last years has changed the relationship and interactions between the customer base and the tourism sector. Tourists actively use information and communication technologies and thereby affect both – the mediums providing various services as well as the nature of customer demands. In this respect, new digital possibilities are a great opportunity to achieve a large customer reach in a cost-efficient manner, but they also represent a great challenge regarding its effective usages.42 Particularly the manifold possibilities of using digital technologies in social media are becoming increasingly important.43 For tourism, two different perspectives on social media are dominant: an economic and a sociological one. In terms of an economic perspective, it should be noted that potential tourists are increasingly opting for a specific holiday destination based on electronic communication channels and digital information. The sociological perspective has changed with new ways of communication between tourists and tourism operators as well as among tourists themselves. For example, a holiday destination and how it is marketed are no longer purely controlled by providers who publish an advertisement in a journal. In the meantime, dominant individuals in social networks can act as central multipliers in the social web. Regardless of whether this is desired or initiated by the respective tourism provider, it can lead to success or failure, but in any case, it leads to a certain amount of media attention.44

In the early 2000s, various outbreaks of illness or terrorist attacks created further challenges for tourism.45 For international travelers, security, safety or the overall political instability in some countries are important concerns and represent not only tourism issues but worldwide problems.46 Even if countries cooperate to reduce avoidable barriers for traveling and support legitimate travelers, the evolving geo-political situation impacts their movement and mobility. Based on these aspects, the biggest challenge is to guarantee easy traveling and a safe tourist environment, on the one hand, and to find the right balance between an adequate border protection and security, on the other.47 Consequently, there is a change in demand for the type of journey reflected within the number of overnight stays. Tourism has expanded significantly over the past few years and

39 Cp. ECORYS 2009, pp. 155 f 40 Cp. CSES 2013, p. 8 41 Cp. UNWTO 2016, p. 32 42 Cp. CSES 2013, p. 36 43 Cp. Pitters 2015, n.p. 44 Cp. Amersdorffer et al. 2010, pp. 7 ff 45 Cp. UNWTO 2016, p. 5 46 Cp. Budeanu et al. 2016, p. 292 47 Cp. OECD 2016a, pp. 31 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 10/127 there is a stronger demand for non-urban stays compared to city trips. This could also be explained by the fact that the large number of terrorist attacks in the last few years has influenced tourists so that they decide to avoid traveling to metropolitan centers and prefer destinations in rural areas that can be reached by car. In Europe, especially in Western Europe, urban tourism has grown at a slower rate than in other areas. Presumably for security reasons, the intercontinental demand has increasingly turned to other destinations like e.g. Asia, where less terrorist threat was perceived there.48

As already mentioned in the introduction, tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. However, in connection with the positive development of this sector, the buzzword “mass tourism” must also be mentioned. Developments in mass tourism have made it possible for people to travel to almost every continent in the world, regardless of their financial or social status.49 As a result of positive social changes like women in the workforce, paid leave or flexible working hours, as well as transport innovations like the wide-bodied jet, the first developments of mass tourism were recognized in the 1950s.50 Starting with a total of 25 million overnight visitors in the post-World War II era, the international tourist arrivals worldwide increased to 1.087 million in 2013. In addition, the number of overseas trips in 2010 doubled compared with the year 1995, and for the period between 2006 and 2013, an overall increase by 21 percent could be recorded. In the last years, particularly the international tourism demand was driven by emerging economies such as Brazil, the Russian Federation or China.51 However, rapidly growing tourism also has negative aspects. When masses of people travel, economic and social effects are inevitable. These effects include a loss of the socio-cultural identity of the target countries, environmental burdens due to resource and land use, the emission of greenhouse gases and the impairment of biodiversity.52 In addition, the increased traffic volume represents a mobility challenge for many tourist regions, which was already mentioned in early criticism of mass tourism in the late 1970s. Since the Rio UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 1992, a number of projects in Europe have sought to develop solutions for the mobility problems of rural tourism regions. This is usually done with the help of state subsidies. Most projects are located in ecologically sensitive areas, where the negative effects of excessive car use are felt very quickly and directly. Tourist resorts in narrow valleys, on islands or on lake shores cannot expand their settlement body without further ado. Therefore, traffic congestion on narrow streets or a lack of parking spaces can endanger the attractiveness of the entire tourist area.53

48 Cp. BMWFW 2017a, p. 15. 49 Cp. Zimmermann 2016, p. 173 50 Cp. Hardy et al. 2002, p. 485 51 Cp. UNWTO 2016, pp. 5 ff 52 Cp. Schmied et al. 2009, p. 1 53 Cp. Zeppenfeld 2012, p. 119 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 11/127

In parallel with the advent of mass tourism, a greater awareness of the ecological impacts of tourism arose.54 Examples of these impacts of tourism are high waste, increasing water consumption or water pollution, changing existing fauna and flora or increased land use by building activities – which are mostly local or regional problems. The seasonal consumption and supply peaks, in particular, pose major challenges for many tourist regions, for instance regarding the supply of drinking water or waste disposal. Nowadays, the high water demand of mass tourism is already causing supply bottlenecks on many islands and in arid regions. The ecological consequences of the overuse of natural water reserves include, for example, a change in vegetation due to the sinking of the groundwater table or the pollution of groundwater.55 These impacts caused by tourism are classical examples of externalities. For a long time, economic literature has recognized that households or businesses do not always have to bear the full benefits and costs of their resource allocation decisions. Due to the nature of its products, like property rights to use natural resources or the development of the infrastructure due to the growth of tourism demand, tourism naturally has external effects.56 The maintenance of the technical and supply infrastructure will be the biggest challenge for the public sector, especially in peripheral areas, as per capita water, wastewater, energy and transport infrastructure costs will further increase.57

In the last decades, another negative external effect of tourism became particularly important both in empirical research and in the media: climate change and global warming caused by emissions. Global warming particularly challenges winter tourism, due to a lack of snow during winter seasons. While numerous studies have addressed tourism-related estimations of greenhouse gas emissions, little is still known about tourism-related energy consumption and emissions at destination level.58 A recent study by Damm et al. in 2017 shows that a further global warming of 2°C can lead to a weather-induced loss of up to 10.1 million winter overnight stays in Europe per season.59

The biggest problems within this context are tourism-related greenhouse gas emissions, which are caused in particular by mobility, especially air travel. Long-distance travels by plane cause the highest specific greenhouse gas emissions (calculated as CO2 equivalents). In 2006, these emissions were about 33 times higher than traveling in the Alps (with around 6.3 tons of greenhouse gases per person per journey) or 43 times higher than domestic passenger car travel. Or to put it differently: Instead of flying in the Caribbean once, travellers could stay in Germany 43 times and have around the same emissions balance. Therefore, a more sustainable orientation of

54 Cp. Dowling 1992, as cited in Hardy et al. 2002, p. 486 55 Cp. Schmied et al. 2009, p. 17 56 Cp. Bailey/Richardson 2010, p. 369 57 Cp. Zeppenfeld 2012, p. 69 58 Cp. Unger et al. 2016, p. 475 59 Cp. Damm et al. 2017, pp. 31 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 12/127 mass tourism is absolutely necessary. Tour operators and other tourism service providers can significantly influence and control the travel market with products that are environmentally and socially compatible. 60

In conclusion, the continuous addiction to growth is incompatible with the social and ecological boundaries on a finite planet. Hence, everyone involved in and connected to tourism, from policy makers to tourist accommodations, have to find a pathway towards a more sustainable tourism.61 As will be shown in more detail in the following chapters, there are already different tourism approaches that try to meet these requirements.

2.2. Sustainable Tourism

2.2.1. Definition and Development of the Sustainability Concept

The term ‘sustainability’ was originally used in the context of medieval German forestry in the 18th century.62 The first written thought of sustainability was recorded by the Saxon Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1645-1714) in Freiberg. In his “Sylvicultura Oeconomica or the Instruction for Wild Tree Cultivation” published in 1713, he calls for a form of timber industry where only as much wood is cut as can regrow through reforestation63. He mentions the sustainable use of forests and argues that wood should only be felled to the extent that it can be cultivated, to guarantee a continuous, consistent and sustainable use.64

These considerations cannot be equated with sustainable development in the modern sense; since then, the recognition of resource conservation and its necessity of future preservation has developed step by step. At the beginning, sustainability mainly focused on ecology. Examples of the growing recognition that it is time to preserve specific areas for future generations are the emergence of national parks, such as the founding of the Yellowstone National Park in 1872 in the USA or the first national park in Australia in 1879.65

These developments, and especially the new environmental policy that was introduced in the middle of the 20th century, gave a new boost to sustainability. With the publication of “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson, environmental protection became an important interdisciplinary topic and, since then, environmental awareness has increased in society worldwide. The resulting environmental debate led to the adoption of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) in the United

60 Cp. Schmied et al. 2009, pp. 16 ff 61 Cp. Higgins-Desbiolles 2017, n.p. 62 Cp. Promberger et al. 2006, p. 1 63 Cp. Spindler 2013, p. 11 64 Cp. Promberger et al. 2006, p. 1 65 Cp. Hardy et al. 2002, p. 476 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 13/127

States in 1969.66 This law entered into force on January 01, 1970 and was one of the first laws to protect the environment. According to §102, a comprehensive environmental impact assessment for larger projects with citizen participation has to be carried out to ensure that all significant impacts on the environment have adequately been considered.67 This idea was legally adopted in Europe in 1985 under the German term ‘Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung’ (environmental impact assessment). The latest adaption of this directive dates from December 2011.68

In 1983, the United Nations founded the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). The aim was to create a perspective report by the year 2000 and to reinforce long-term sustainable and environmentally friendly development. The commission was chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway, and former Minister of the Environment.69 Four years later, their report ‘Our Common Future’, which is also known as the Brundtland Report, was published. It contained the first global policy strategy that did not consider separate problem areas such as demographic trends or even industrial pollution but recognized sustainability as an integrative concept.70 Furthermore, the report laid down the internationally known definition of sustainability by defining it as meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”71 From this publication onwards, sustainable development was regarded as a new and comprehensive political model worldwide.72

Based on the Brundtland report, the issue of sustainability was re-examined at the conference on Environment and Development that was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. More than 170 participating states contributed to the development of ‘Agenda 21’, which has become a symbol of common responsibility of all states of the earth. As the final document of the conference, Agenda 21 represents an action program for the overall goal of ensuring sustainable development.73 According to this document, sustainable development is based on three fundamental principles: economic growth, environmental protection and social equity.74

66 Cp. Hardy et al. 2002, p. 477 67 Cp. EPA 2018, n.p. 68 Cp. Umweltbundesamt 2018a, n.p. 69 Cp. WCED 1987, pp. 5 ff 70 Cp. Hardy et al. 2002, p. 480 71 WCED 1987, p. 8 72 Cp. von Hauff/Kleine 2009, p. 2 73 Cp. Promberger et al. 2006, p. 2 74 Cp. Putzhuber/Hasenauer 2010, p. 32 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 14/127

The underlying dimensions of sustainability, also known as the three pillars social, environmental, economic75, are shown in the following figure.

social

environ- economic mental

Figure 2: The three pillars of Sustainability as intersections Source: own compilation based on von Hauff/Kleine 2009, p. 119

As already mentioned, the concept of sustainability initially focused largely on ecological concerns and has undergone a significant expansion in terms of its scope. It became clear that humans are part of the entire ecosystem and therefore dependent on the functionality of natural cycles and regeneration processes, strengthening the ecological system as an important function.76 As a result, three principles have emerged:77

- The rate of degradation should not exceed its regeneration rate and the ruthless consumption of renewable resources should be limited. - The consumption of non-renewable resources must be prevented, and resources should be used to the extent that an equivalent replacement of renewable resources or an increased productivity of renewable or non-renewable resources is guaranteed. - The regulating and supporting functions of nature have to be preserved. Therefore, the time scale of human interventions or environmental inputs must be balanced with the time scale of the natural processes that are relevant for its responsiveness.

In addition to the natural foundation of life, economic, social and cultural values also constitute resources that form the basis for the satisfaction of human needs.78 The economic dimension is closely linked to economic sciences and deals with, for instance, international development cooperation and trade, domestic public finance or the improvement of policy coherence in favour

75 Cp. von Hauff/Kleine 2009, p. 113 76 Cp. Zimmermann 2016, p. 8 77 Cp. Rogall 2008, as cited in Zimmermann 2016, p. 8 78 Cp. Grundwald/Kopfmüller 2012, p. 57 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 15/127 of sustainable development.79 Beside these macroeconomic aspects, concerns regarding the handling of natural energy or raw material in productions are also essential aspects on the microeconomic level.80

Finally, the demand for social sustainability and, thus, for the preservation of social capital are reflected within the concept of sustainability. Although social sustainability is receiving increasing attention, it has not been discussed or substantiated by the same extent as the other two dimensions of sustainability. When it comes to basic needs, individuals should have fair access to basic social goods and be able to live a safe, dignified and self-determined life. The main challenge of this approach lies in the ambiguity of policy-making, as the development of the needs of future generations is uncertain. Regarding the aspect of international justice, the question arises how social capital can be maintained and future generations can benefit from the current existence of international justice.81

After the Rio Conference in 1992, a large number of follow-up conferences were held, where the guiding principle of sustainable development was further specified by introducing clear targets and demands.82 Since then, the sustainability principles have been supplemented and modified in many ways – without changing their meaning.83 One of the most important aspects is that every dimension is taken into account, in order to avoid that a sub-area suffers and that sustainability is seen as global, stable and long-term.

2.2.2. Definition and Development of Sustainable Tourism

The aspects described in the previous section suggest that other areas also had to deal with the growing problems associated with sustainability – including tourism. This section discusses the etiquette of the idea of sustainable tourism, its definition and especially its differentiation from similar concepts.

Nature tourism can be seen as the initiation of sustainable tourism. It dates back to antiquity, when Greek philosophers toured the Mediterranean and also emerged later, when discoverers like James Cook or Charles Darwin set off to discover the world. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, excursions into nature gained popularity through youth and labor movements. Nature tourism targets naturally attractive areas, today preferably protected areas.84 These mainly include large nature reserves like national parks or biosphere reserves. Even today, large nature reserves are important destinations for the segment of nature holidays, which is

79 Cp. UN 2015b, pp. 29 f 80 Cp. Grundwald / Kopfmüller, 2012, p. 57 81 Cp. von Hauff / Kleine, 2009, pp. 20 ff 82 Cp. von Hauff / Kleine, 2009, p. 2 83 Cp. Zimmermann 2016, p. 8 84 Cp. Baumgartner 2008, pp. 9 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 16/127 experiencing an increasing tourist demand.85 Experiencing nature was at the heart of this travel form86, but since nature tourism also intervenes in nature, it does not have the same origin as sustainable tourism.87

It was not until the increasing travel pleasure in the 1980s that mass tourism developed, as already mentioned in subchapter 2.1.2, and, thus, that it became clear that resources cannot be endlessly exploited and must be protected. This recognition initiated the first steps towards sustainable tourism and became known as the concept of ecotourism.88 The term ‘ecotourism’ was coined by the Mexican ecologist Hector Ceballos-Lascuráin in 1983.89 While definitions of this concept differ slightly in literature, they all have the following core aspects in common90:

- Environmental, social, economic and cultural compatibility, - A sense of responsibility, - Nature-relatedness and sustainability, - Codetermination law, - Financing protected areas and regional development.

In other words, ecotourism means traveling to semi-natural landscapes or protected areas in a sustainable and responsible manner. It aims to minimize negative environmental impacts, respect the ecological sustainability of travel destinations and avoid negative socio-cultural effects. The proceeds of this form of tourism should support nature conservation and increase the income of the local population. Therefore, ecotourism represents a socially and ecologically compatible form of nature tourism.91

Nevertheless, this form of tourism does not yet meet all the needs of sustainability according to the definition provided in subchapter 2.2.1. On the one hand, the ecological footprint of a (flight) trip to ecotourism destinations is not taken into account, which is why the long-term costs and its effect on climate change are obscured within this concept. On the other hand, in the tourist’s target areas, it is impossible or extremely difficult to determine the needs of future generations that are repeatedly demanded in the light of sustainability. This means, for example, the load capacity of a specific region and its ability to integrate tourism development without exploiting local development potential. 92 Therefore, the ecotourism approach largely only focuses on the ecological dimension of sustainability, integrating economic and social aspects not enough.

85 Cp. Porzelt 2012, p. 172 86 Cp. Zimmermann 2016, p. 185 87 Cp. Müller 1998, p. 15 88 Cp. Baumgartner 2008, pp. 9 ff 89 Cp. Zimmermann 2016, p. 185 90 Cp. Baumgartner 2008, p. 16 91 Cp. Müller 1998, pp. 13 ff 92 Cp. Zimmermann 2016, pp. 183 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 17/127

The concept of soft tourism came into being almost at the same time that ecotourism emerged. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it came up as a further alternative to mass tourism, which was also considered an attempt to develop previous ecotourism.93 Soft tourism represented the countermovement to mass tourism, which was also referred to as hard tourism. The central concerns of soft tourism are similar to those of ecotourism, with the exception that it does not limit travels to natural destinations.94 According to Baumgartner (2008), soft tourism represents an important starting point for discussions on sustainability in tourism as it is currently understood.95

At the institutional level, however, the issue of eco- or soft tourism was considered much later. Even if this form of tourism was seen as a solution for ecological and social problems and as a possible danger in the Rio Conference in 199296, it was still largely left out in Agenda 21, for instance, as described in subchapter 2.2.1. This gap was closed from an institutional perspective in 1995, when the UNWTO, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Earth Council developed Agenda 21 for Travel and Tourism Industry, to move the tourism sector closer towards the sustainability principles laid down in Agenda 21.97 Furthermore, in the follow-up congress “Rio + 5” in 1997, the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) addressed the theme of sustainable tourism at its regular meeting. In cooperation with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), this resulted in the “Global Code of Ethics for Tourism” (1999), consisting of 10 principles which “promote responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism in the framework of the right of all persons to use their free time for leisure pursuits or travel with respect for the choices of society of all peoples.”98 During this time, first indicators to operationalize the concept of sustainable development in tourism were defined.99

In the following years, first definitions of sustainable tourism were presented by different international institutions. According to these definitions, sustainable tourism is based on the declarations in Agenda 21 and must fulfill social, cultural, ecological and economic criteria, and long-term thinking is reflected for the first time. After the UN declared 2002 the International Year of Ecotourism, the discussion of the social components of ecotourism and its connection to sustainable development was renewed. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the UNWTO, the latest official definition of sustainable tourism is defined as follows:

93 Cp. Baumgartner 2008, p. 10 94 Cp. Zimmermann 2016, p. 186 95 Cp. Baumgartner 2008, p. 11 96 Cp. Zimmermann 2016, p. 186 97 Cp. Hardy et al. 2002, pp. 481 f 98 UNWTO 1999, p. 7 99 Cp. Hardy et al. 2002, p. 482 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 18/127

“Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.”100

The different development stages and their decisive aspects, starting with nature tourism and ending with the present understanding of sustainable tourism, are summarized in the following figure.

Sustainable Ecotourism Tourism • nature areas • no longer limitation of • natural destinations sustainablity and • aspects of tourism in • intervenes in nature • reduction of negative accordiance with impacts on ecology, responsibility to sustainability economy and society natural destination • inclusion of all relevant • for the first time a stakeholders sense of sustainability • focus on futher Nature and responsibility Soft Tourism generations Tourism

Figure 3: From Nature to Sustainable Tourism Source: own compilation based on Zimmermann 2016, p. 188

In order to be able to fulfill the aspects mentioned in the definition, the buildup of sustainable tourism depends upon the joining in of all necessary stakeholders in the tourism industry, including tourism businesses, policy makers at a national and local level, NGOs as well as international development agencies. Impacts of and on tourism have to be continuously monitored and all necessary corrective and preventive activities and programs have to be implemented whenever needed. Thereby, it can be ensured that tourists can experience meaningful traveling with great satisfaction.101 Zimmermann (2016) claims that the sustainability-oriented approaches of today will not actually prove to be sustainable in the years to come. Therefore, sustainability should rather be understood as a forward-looking claim than a solid plan. This means that content has to be redefined from time to time and that futurologists must learn to consider unpredictable events.102

100 UNEP / WTO 2005, p. 12 101 Cp. UNEP / WTO 2005, pp. 11 f 102 Cp. Zimmermann 2016, p. 188 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 19/127

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) was founded in 2007 as a further major step in the development of sustainable tourism, and as a resolution to the claims stated above. As leading global authority, the GSTC aims to set and manage standards for global sustainable travel and tourism. The development of specific indicators should foster the measurement of sustainable tourism and a common understanding and necessary awareness across the entire tourism industry.103 The measurement of sustainable tourism will be discussed in greater detail in the following subchapter.

Furthermore, to highlight the important role of tourism with regard to sustainable development, the UNWTO designated 2017 as the “International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development”104. As the tourism industry can highly contribute to the achievement of global sustainable goals like the SDGs or the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the main objective was to mobilize all tourism stakeholders and highlight the potential of the tourism industry to achieve the agreed goals.105 What contribution tourism can make will be explained in more detail in chapter 2.2.3.

In 2019, the German Federal Environmental Agency dedicated a thematic paper to the understanding of sustainable tourism. In this paper, tourism is understood as an interplay of various interacting economic sectors and levels, where the principles of sustainability have to be continuously classified. If understood as the sum of all activities of travelers, tourism is in a very special area of tension: on the one hand, its existence is justified by the intactness of natural and cultural resources, so that tourism can also be considered as a potential ally of sustainable development. On the other hand, it has a duty to apply responsible and sustainable practices, as a contributor to undesirable environmental and socio-cultural impacts. However, it must always be kept in mind that tourism in itself is not a traditional economic sector, but rather a large number of service providers from different economic sectors who are involved in the overall tourism product.106 In conclusion, the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism in Austria summarizes the three pillars of sustainable development in the context of tourism as follows:107

- Ensuring economic viability: Tourism secures jobs in the region, especially for peripheral areas. When making offers, care must be taken that they can survive in the long term and are also profitable. - Consideration of environmental aspects: The quality of the environment, the landscape and biodiversity are indispensable elements for tourism. Measures taken must not destroy the foundations for tourism in the future.

103 Cp. GSTC 2015, pp. 6 ff 104 UNWTO 2017b 105 Cp. UNWTO 2017b, n.p. 106 Cp. Umweltbundesamt 2019, p. 33 107 Cp. BMNT 2019b, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 20/127

- Respect for social compatibility: The preservation of the cultural regional identity and the living conditions for locals as well as offers for guests with special needs (senior citizens, handicapped people, families, socially disadvantaged people) are the basis for sustainable tourism.

2.2.3. Tourism within the UN Sustainable Development Goals The Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent the most up-to-date aspiration towards global sustainable development. Therefore, the following sections focus on the SDGs and their relation to tourism.

In the year 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were ratified by the UN member states. This groundbreaking commitment was translated into an inspirational framework consisting of eight goals, followed by comprehensive, hands-on action that has helped people improve their lives and prospects around the world. The goals focus on people and their immediate needs, transforming the decision-making processes in both developed and developing countries. However, according to the final MDG Report by the UN in 2015, further progress relating to sustainable development can only be achieved with an unwavering political will and long-term aspirations on a collaborative basis. Therefore, a further integration of the economic, social and environmental dimension of sustainable development is necessary.108

Based on the eight MDGs, the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” was adopted in September 2015.109 At the heart of this ambitious action plan are the 17 SDGs of the UN that are broken down into 169 specific targets, as given in detail in Appendix 1. The catalog of goals, which should be implemented over the next 15 years, consists of social, economic and ecological measures – from combating poverty to sparing the use of resources up to peace and justice110, and are based on the six essential elements of dignity, prosperity, justice, partnership, planet and people, as shown in the following figure:

108 Cp. UN 2015a, p. 3 109 Cp. Wysokinska 2017, pp. 101 f 110 Cp. UN 2015b, pp. 5 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 21/127

Figure 4: Six essential elements for delivering the SDGs Source: UN 2014, p. 20

In contrast to the MDGs that expired in 2015, the SDGs equally apply to both developing and industrialized countries. The SDGs are not only aimed at governments and public authorities, but also urge companies to use their creativity and innovative power to solve the challenges of sustainable development.111 The MDGs primarily addressed health and poverty in developing countries, whereas the SDGs also focus on broader themes of sustainable development like gender equality, human rights or the environment. Through the SDGs, the goals that have been set aim not only to be implemented or achieved by the financing power of wealthy countries to overcome the obstacles of poor countries, as intended in the objectives of the MDGs, but also demand concrete actions from wealthier ones.112

Despite this ambitious and exemplary attitude towards sustainable development, there are still some points of criticism. Some experts argue that the SDGs are too broad and that there are too many to be realized effectively. Others claim that only investing in the most cost-effective targets could lead to far better results than investing in all 169.113 The fact that the SDGs pledge to leave no one behind is another point of criticism. Not all countries have the same starting conditions, like several countries in Africa. The African continent, for instance, has much more work to do than the UN suggests. This raises the question whether the world community is able to speed up Africa’s sustainable development through the global SDGs.114

Even if some criticism came up, with around 1.2 billion tourists traveling around the world each year, the tourism industry has an important role in achieving the SDGs along its value chain. Due

111 Cp. UN 2015b, pp. 5 ff 112 Cp. Ford 2015, p. 1 113 Cp. Renwick 2015, n.p. 114 Cp. Mulligan 2015, p. 78 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 22/127 to multiple intersections with other industries and sectors, as already illustrated in Figure 1, tourism is explicitly mentioned in 3 of the 17 SDGs115:

“Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”116:

“8.9 By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products”117

“Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”118:

“12.b develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products”119

“Goal 14. Sustainable use and preservation of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”120:

“14.7. increase the economic benefits to small island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism”121

The first target, “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”122, is positively attributed to tourism, as tourism represents a motor for global economic growth. Every 11th job worldwide can be accounted to the industry. Access to decent work opportunities in the tourism industry can benefit society – especially young people and women – in terms of better education and career development.123 Jansen (2017), Chief Economist at the International Trade Centre, even argues that “for many developing countries, tourism constitutes the single largest foreign exchange earner”124.

According to 41 voluntary national reviews in 2016 and 2017, the 2nd, ”Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”125, and 3rd target, “Sustainable use and preservation of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”126 represent the biggest challenges for tourism. As already mentioned in subchapter 2.1.2, tourism consumes a significant

115 Cp. UNWTO 2017a, p. 6 116 UN 2015b, p. 24 117 UN 2015b, p. 25 118 UN 2015b, p. 26 119 UN 2015b, p. 27 120 UN 2015b, p. 28 121 UN 2015b, p. 28 122 UN 2015b, p. 24 123 Cp. BMWFW 2017b, p. 11 124 Jansen 2017, p. 14 125 UN 2015b, p. 26 126 UN 2015b, p. 28 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 23/127 amount of natural resources, for instance through the consumption of food or the services of accommodation. These are aspects that require special attention from all stakeholders in the industry.127

Even though tourism is only explicitly mentioned in these three SDGs, it can help in the successful achievement of other goals. For example, the fifth goal calls for greater gender equality and empowerment of female workers, and tourism is also in demand here, with its high proportion of women in the workforce. The 7th goal places tourist accommodation operators in a position to ensure sustainable energy supply through its high energy consumption and the 15th is highly important for the nature tourism segment because if nature is not managed in a sustainable way in natural tourism areas, a region risks losing its selling point. Although none of them address tourism directly, there are many starting points and possibilities with regard to how the tourism sector can contribute.

However, when speaking about targets and goals, the question is always how the respective goal achievement can be measured. Some targets can be measured relatively simply. For instance, the UNWTO specifies an indicator for target 8.9 as follows: “Tourism direct GDP as a proportion of total GDP and in growth rate”.128

Pulida-Fernández et al. (2015) argue that, from a conceptual perspective, sustainable tourism has been fostered enthusiastically by both institutions and academics, but still, there are deficits regarding concrete results.129 Even if several sources offer plenty of indicators for sustainable tourism, an incremental progress in developing the right set of indicators represents a more successful method to adopt sustainable tourism in practice.130 The development of sustainable tourism should follow a constant process, starting with the choice of the indicator group and the individual indicators before applying, interpreting and communicating the selected indicators up to achieving the sustainable vision or target. What also needs to be considered is the fact that there should be a distinction between key indicators on different levels, e.g. national indicators that are disaggregated on a local level where this is possible and useful, as suggested by the Office for National Statistics.131 In turn, a different set of key indicators is necessary on an organizational level. Agyeiwaah et al. (2017) dedicated a research paper to this topic in 2017. In this paper, the authors evaluated different studies about commonalities among indicator themes in relation to sustainable tourism and could identify seven key indicator themes with its most common measures

127 Cp. UNWTO 2017a, p. 29 128 UNWTO 2017a, p. 99 129 Cp. Pulido-Fernández et al. 2015, p. 47 130 Cp. Agyeiwaah et al. 2017, pp. 30 f 131 Cp. Office for National Statistics 2011, pp. 9 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 24/127 in practice132 (see Appendix 2). Furthermore, Klein-Vielhauer provided a framework for evaluating leisure and tourism sustainability on a national level in 2009.133

Regardless of the focus of the key indicators, the most important part is starting with a smaller set of indicators that make sustainable tourism more manageable and supporting essential steps for its further development and improvement.134

132 Cp. Agyeiwaah et al. 2017, p. 30 133 Cp. Klein-Vielhauer 2008, pp. 447 ff 134 Cp. Agyeiwaah et al. 2017, p. 31 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 25/127

3. Sustainable Tourism at a European Level

3.1. Statistical Facts and Characteristics of the Tourism Sector

To highlight the enormous importance of tourism within the EU, this chapter presents current statistical data as a main aspect of the economic dimension of sustainability, its evolution over time, and other key characteristics of the European tourism sector.

The GDP is probably the most well-known indicator used in the national economy to measure the financial value added of a country. It is a period-related production indicator that measures the total production of all goods and services within a country or economy.135

With one of the highest income levels in the world, the GDP per capita in the EU is EUR 29,200 (2016), representing a combined GDP of EUR 14.9 billion in total. As the second largest economy in the world, the EU accounts for around 40 percent of the world’s international tourist arrivals, representing 500 million overnight visitors.136

Tourism could directly contribute to the EU GDP with around 3.7 percent, which equates to a monetary value of EUR 547.9 billion.137 In 2018, this industry sector could even contribute 10.3 percent to the GDP.138 Since 2010, EU tourism has recorded a steady, modest growth in its share of GDP. The forecast until 2027 shows that this trend is likely to continue, as the graph below illustrates139:

Figure 5: Direct Contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP Source: WTTC 2017, p. 3

135 Cp. Piekenbrock 2009, p. 406 136 Cp. UNWTO 2018a, pp. 11 f 137 Cp. WTTC 2017, p. 3 138 Cp. European Parliament 2019, p. 1 139 Cp. WTTC 2017, p. 3 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 26/127

As the graph above shows, the contribution of tourism to the GDP in the EU slightly decreased between 2007 and 2010. This can be explained by the fact that the EU also suffered under the economic recession caused by the economic and financial crisis.140 The overall level and evolution of GDP represents a major factor in tourism demand. Due to the interplay of the socio-economic system, the growth of the economy encourages it in many ways. In this context, the interplay between tourism demand, GDP and personal disposal income is an important channel of influence. Additionally, this relationship is influenced by structural change in private consumption and economic growth. If the basic needs for food, clothing, commodities, etc. are covered in the long-term growth process, an increasing share of disposable income is available for travel, leisure and cultural activities.141

The previous paragraph highlighted the considerable contribution that tourism makes to the overall economic performance of the EU. However, this indicator and value is based on the so-called direct value added of tourism, like accommodation, leisure and recreation services or travel agents.142 The primary difficulty of this consideration and valuation is that individual sectors are recorded in the system of national accounts based on their output rather than demand. At the moment, however, the overall value of the tourism industry is defined by its consumers – the tourists – at the time of consumption. Therefore, the value added of tourism also depend on the actions of tourists in other sectors of the economy, or on goods or services consumed in tourism- related sectors that do not appear to be relevant at first sight.143

Due to the complexity of this sector and the diversity of its interrelationships with other sectors within the national economy, an additional calculation is required to achieve a realistic value. GDP does not sufficiently reflect the different links with other economic sectors. Therefore, international organizations recommend a presentation based on the so-called Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA).144 According to the TSA concept, this calculation also includes the indirect value-added effects and the goods and services are included as tourism consumption as follows:

- Tourism-specific - Tourism-related - Non-tourism-specific.145

In 2016, based on the indirect calculation of tourism consumption, the EU tourism sector yielded a total indirect value added of around EUR 1.508 billion, which, taking the direct value added described above into account, leads to a total share of more than 10 percent of the tourism sector

140 Cp. UNWTO 2018a, p. 12 141 Cp. Smeral 1992, p. 61 142 Cp. WTTC 2017, p. 2 143 Cp. Laimer et al. 2014, p. 3 144 Cp. Eurostat 2009, p. 1 145 Cp. Laimer et al. 2014, p. 3 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 27/127 to the GDP in the EU. The forecast even expects a further increase by over 2 percent pa until 2027.146 Based on the economic figures presented earlier, the question arises who generates these values. Therefore, the supply side of the EU tourism sector has to be evaluated.

In order to deal with the great number of tourists that travel to the EU every year, there are different companies in the tourist industry that are characterized by a strongly fragmented value chain. The dual structure of this value chain is justified by the global tourism demand and the local supply of the goods and services in this sector. A limited number of multinational, large companies are responsible for organizing tourism to different destinations, whereas a large group of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) provides the tourism service at the destinations locally.147 2.3 million companies were part of the overall European tourism industry in 2018148 and around 608,000 accommodations were established in 2016149 that offer 31 million beds. Nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of these accommodations are short-stay accommodations like bungalows, apartments or Bed&Breakfast, 33 percent are hotels and only 5 percent are camping grounds or recreational vehicle parks. France, Italy and the United Kingdom have the most total bed-place capacity within the EU, accounting together for 45 percent of the total amount. Taking all tourism- related companies into account, 2.3 million companies within the EU are mainly or partly related to this industry. 150

Given the data presented on the number of companies in tourism, it is obvious that this industry represents a large and important labor market. Based on Eurostat, more than 12 million people were employed in this sector in 2018. The gender ratio for the year 2018 can be divided into around 46 percent women and 54 percent men, whereby female employees have a higher part- time rate (32 percent) than their male counterparts (11 percent).151 From a global perspective, as a labor-intensive industry, tourism is responsible for one in ten jobs worldwide.152 Nevertheless, in comparison to other manufacturing and service sectors, European tourism has a generally low labor productivity. Due to the fact that wages mainly depend on the productivity of a sector, they are significantly below the average compared to other service sectors.153

After this supply-side point of view, the demand side of tourism, which is responsible for the previously mentioned numbers, also needs to be addressed. In total, around 3.2 billion nights spent at tourist accommodations were registered for the EU in the 2017 calendar year. In terms of overnight stays, there was an increase of 5.1 percent compared to the previous year, and the number of nights spent by residents and non-residents of the EU can be seen as balanced. Nearly

146 Cp. WTTC 2017, p. 1 147 Cp. ECORYS 2009, pp. 20 ff 148 Cp. European Parliament 2019, p. 1 149 Cp. Eurostat 2018c, n.p. 150 Cp. UNWTO 2018a, pp. 39 ff 151 Cp. Eurostat 2018c, n.p. 152 Cp. UNWTO 2018a, p. 57 153 Cp. ECORYS 2009, p. 22 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 28/127 all Member States of the EU recorded an increased number of nights spent, whereby only Luxembourg slightly dropped by one percent.154 As can be seen in the following graph, there is a continued trend of an increasing numbers of overnight stays in the EU.

Figure 6: Number of nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments, EU-28, 2000-2017 Source: Eurostat 2018a, n.p.

With an additional 30 million arrivals, countries in the Mediterranean and Southern Europe have supported these rising results in 2017.155 In the coming years, the arrivals of international tourists are expected to increase. Especially emerging economies like the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) will further drive tourism demand within the EU.156 Despite the rather small area, EU destinations are characterized by great diversity and a highly developed tourism industry. Due to its richness in cultural resources and the quality of its tourism services, the long traditions in EU tourism have contributed to the great professionalism of this sector.157

Nevertheless, in order to stay competitive and acquire potential tourism demand, it is essential to continue raising awareness about changing conditions. Therefore, it is especially important to include tourism in the political agenda158, which will be discussed in more detail in the following subchapter.

3.2. EU Tourism Policies and Initiatives

The tourism policy of the EU has evolved steadily over the past decades. In terms of tourism, the main task of the EU is to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States in this area. In other tourism-related policies, where the EU has exclusive or shared competences with the Member States (e.g. consumer protection or mobility), common provisions can be

154 Cp. Eurostat 2018d, pp. 1 f 155 Cp. UNWTO 2018b, p. 12 156 Cp. European Commission 2010, p. 3 157 Cp. ECORYS 2009, p. 4 158 Cp. UNWTO 2016, pp. 6 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 29/127 adopted.159 Tourism can play a decisive role in the development of Europe’s regions. The infrastructure created for tourism contributes to local development, and the jobs it creates or maintains can counteract the decline of the industry in rural areas. Sustainable tourism is about the preservation and development of cultural and natural heritage, from art to local gastronomy up to the preservation of biodiversity.160

Over the last years, the European Parliament has dealt with a range of tourism topics related to sustainable development, contributed to the EU’s tourism strategy and, together with the Council, adopted various acts in tourism-related areas. The EU supports the promotion of tourism products, encourages investment in tourism infrastructures and reinforces efforts to market Europe as a set of sustainable quality tourism destinations through initiatives and policies.161 Some were initiated directly by the EU; others were initiated on an international level e.g. by the UN. The following graph shows some of the most important steps as well as its origins towards a more sustainable tourism with relevance for the EU.

• LEADER Program/LAG (EU level) • Agenda 21 (International level) • Treaty of Amsterdam (EU level) 1990s • Eco Label / EMAS (EU level)

• Gothenburg Summit (EU level) • TSG Foundation (EU level) • Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism (EU level) 2000s • A new political framework for European tourism (EU level) • EDEN Award (EU level)

• European Tourism Indicators System for sustainable destination management (EU level) 2013

• International year of sustainable tourism for development (International level) 2017

Figure 7: EU policies and initiatives over time Source: own compilation

159 Cp. Juul 2015, p. 1 160 Cp. Eurostat 2018b, n.p. 161 Cp. Juul 2015, p. 27 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 30/127

3.2.1. Milestones in the 1990s The LEADER Program/LAG

LEADER is a methodological approach for regional development that has been used for more than 20 years and is the French acronym for “Liaison entre actions de développement de l'économie rurale”.162 Established in 1991, LEADER aims to improve the development potential in rural areas by using local initiatives and skills, promoting the acquisition of locally integrated development knowledge and transferring this knowledge to other rural areas.163 Based on the Rural Development Programs (RDPs) and co-funding by further EU funds, around 2600 local actions groups (LAGs) are implemented today; these are composed of representatives of rural development stakeholders from the areas of policy, society and business.164

Although the LEADER approach is not a directly tourism-oriented concept, it can be applied to tourism. The cooperation of LAGs can help expand the local activities of a tourism region. As a result, LAGs may be able to solve certain problems or increase the appreciation of local resources. This can help gain the critical mass needed to make a particular project feasible or to promote complementary actions like developing joint tourism initiatives based on a common cultural heritage. The difference between LEADER and other traditional rural policies of the EU is that the program is more likely to say how to proceed instead of what needs to be done. Seven essential features characterize this approach:165

- Territorial local development strategies - Bottom-up development and implementation of the strategy - Local public-private partnerships: (LAGs) - Integrated and multisectoral actions - Innovations - Cooperation - Network building

Agenda 21

Another important political step towards sustainable development in the EU is the UN-convened Agenda 21, as already described in subchapter 2.2.1., Chapter 28 of the agenda, “Local authorities’ initiatives in support of Agenda 21”166, is of particular importance because it focuses more on the local level like the LEADER initiative.

162 Cp. ENRD 2018, n.p. 163 Cp. European Commission 2006a, pp. 5 f 164 Cp. ENRD 2018, n.p. 165 Cp. European Commission 2006a, pp. 6 ff 166 UN 1992, p. 285. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 31/127

As many of the issues and solutions addressed in Agenda 21 are based on activities at a local level, community participation and participation in general is a key factor in achieving the goals of the agenda. Municipalities establish, manage and maintain the economic, social and environmental infrastructure, monitor the planning process and decide on the local environmental policy, while environmental legislation contributes to the implementation of national and regional environmental policies. As the political and administrative levels are nearest to citizens, they play a crucial role in informing and mobilizing the public and raising awareness for sustainable environmental development.167

In addition to Chapter 28, Agenda 21 exhibits other aspects relating to tourism. For example, it calls for the development of environmentally sound, culturally sensitive tourism programs as a strategy for sustainable urban and rural settlement development and for enhancing the value of forests through conservative uses such as ecotourism and the regulated provision of genetic material. This could lead to a wider use of forests and an economic contribution by integrating ecotourism into forest management and planning.168

Treaty of Amsterdam

As the successful implementation of Agenda 21 is primarily the responsibility of the governments, the EU formally anchored the requirements for sustainable development in its policies.169 This was done with the Treaty of Amsterdam, which was adopted on October 02, 1997 and entered into force on May 01, 1999. Thereby, sustainable development was fixed as a fundamental objective of the EU. In addition to the notion that trade should be balanced and the economic growth of the Member States is important, environmental requirements are also integrated into the policy and are seen as a key to promote sustainable development. Especially the harmonization of policies at the community level serves as an essential tool to achieve the set objectives.170

Eco Label / EMAS

In this decade, the EU introduced two important labels relating to sustainable tourism: the EU Ecolabel and the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

The EU Ecolabel was created in 1992 ‘to promote products with a reduced environmental impact during their entire life cycle and to provide consumers with accurate, non-deceptive, science- based information on the environmental impacts of products’.171 With the EU Ecolabel, the consumer has the opportunity to identify more environmentally friendly and healthier products and

167 Cp. Kuhn et al. 1998, pp. 293 f 168 Cp. UN 1992, pp. 52 ff 169 Cp. European Commission 2002, p. 2 170 Cp. UN 1999, n.p. 171 European Commission 2017a, p. 2 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 32/127 services. The logo should help to identify products that comply with EU Ecolabel criteria. The spectrum of the EU Ecolabel ranges from cleaning products to electrical appliances, textiles and accommodation providers within the tourism industry. 172

Especially due to the growth of the tourism industry, innovative and sustainable solutions for facilities like hotels can contribute to an increased attractiveness of the region and foster competitiveness to reduce general operational costs like electricity or water costs.173The EU Eco- Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) aims to promote the continuous improvement of corporate environmental protection. EMAS validation was initially strictly limited to companies and organizations in Europe on a voluntary basis. To become EMAS validated, an organization has to take the following steps. First, an environmental statement must be drawn up by the respective company that starts with its environmental policy. After a detailed description of the company’s environmental program and the assessment of its main environmental aspects, such as energy and resource consumption, the concrete objectives and measures for improving operational environmental aspects should be defined.174 This information has to be presented in the form of standardized figures. This way, the company’s environmental performance can be presented more uniformly and made more comparable or measurable in the future. After auditing through an external environmental verifier, the company or organization is officially registered in the European site register.175 Like the EU Ecolabel, EMAS can be seen as an instrument for businesses to foster sustainable tourism that mainly focuses on the environmental perspective.

3.2.2. Political steps in the following decades In the year 2001, the first sustainable development strategy was launched by the EU at the Gothenburg Summit. This strategy was divided into two areas. Unsustainable, current trends were the focus of the first objectives of the strategy. The second part called for reciprocal strengthening of the environmental, social and economic dimension in future policy decisions. Therefore, the Commission commits itself to carrying out an impact assessment on these dimensions in the case of important policy proposals in the future and should be a complementary to the Lisbon Strategy.176 Afterwards, the Commission underlined the importance of sustainability within European tourism in its publication ‘Basic Principles for the Sustainability of European Tourism’ in 2003. At the time, there were already some community initiatives that contributed to achieving a more sustainable tourism in Europe. Even if some of these programs addressed sustainability problems and issues rather generally across the complete economic sector, they can vastly

172 Cp. European Commission 2017a, p. 2 173 Cp. Dziuba 2016, pp. 112 f 174 Cp. Umweltbundesamt 2018b, n.p. 175 Cp. Umweltbundesamt 2018c, n.p. 176 Cp. European Commission 2019, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 33/127 contribute to the path towards a sustainable development of European tourism,177 as the EU Ecolabel and EMAS show.

Nevertheless, during this time, the Commission complained that there was still no fundamental change of the unsustainable patterns of production or consumption within the tourism sector. One major reason for this was the lack of concrete actions at the local market level where tourism takes place. Complicated information at the community level does not suffice for SMEs or tourists. As a result, the Commission started to prepare a European Agenda 21 for tourism, to further foster synergies and communication between all stakeholders along the whole tourism value chain.178

In 2005, the EU decided to work on two new priorities: the achievement of a stronger and sustainable growth and the creation of more and better jobs. Since the 1990s, the potential of the tourism sector regarding these new priorities has increasingly been recognized at EU level. The development of the vast majority of European regions significantly depends on tourism. Therefore, the EU claims that if the attractiveness of a region will be increased, it can help a travel destination and its stakeholders to focus on more eco-friendly and sustainable projects and strategies. To tackle challenges such as external competition, sustainability or a change in tourism demand, the EU should focus on increasing competitiveness, to secure Europe’s leading position as a tourist destination.179

A major step of the Commission was the foundation of the Tourism Sustainability Group (TSG) in 2004. Composed of representatives and experts of various stakeholder groups, the TSG aims to develop activities to better evaluate and monitor sustainable tourism in Europe and set the right actions.180 The final report of the TSG, “Action for More Sustainable European Tourism”181, was published in 2007 and identified eight key challenges for sustainable tourism in Europe:

“Challenge 1: Reducing the seasonality of demand” 182

“Challenge 2: Addressing the impact of tourism transport “183

“Challenge 3: Improving the quality of tourism jobs”184

“Challenge 4: Maintaining and enhancing community prosperity and quality of life, in the face of change”185

177 Cp. European Commission 2003, pp. 4 ff 178 Cp. European Commission 2003, pp. 8 ff 179 Cp. European Commission 2006b, pp. 2 f 180 Cp. European Commission 2006b, p. 7 181 TSG 2007 182 TSG 2007, p. 8 183 TSG 2007, p. 9 184 TSG 2007, p. 10 185 TSG 2007, p. 12 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 34/127

“Challenge 5: Minimising resource use and production of waste”186

“Challenge 6: Conserving and giving value to natural and cultural heritage187“

“Challenge 7: Making holidays available to all”188

“Challenge 8: Using tourism as a tool in global sustainable development”189

In order to overcome these challenges, the TSG identified three areas where actions should be implemented: sustainable destinations, sustainable businesses and responsible tourists.190

In the following years, the European Commission regularly published further communications in which they wanted to pursue the path towards a more sustainable tourism in Europe: these include “A renewed EU Tourism Policy: Towards a stronger partnership for European Tourism”191 in 2006, “Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism”192 in 2007 or “Europe, the world’s No1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe”193 in 2010. Furthermore, the EDEN-Award (European Destinations of Excellence) was launched by the EU in cooperation with the Member States in 2007. It is granted every year, is always dedicated to a specific topic and aims to put international aspirations in the spotlight for ambitious destinations that focus on the development of sustainable tourism, are particularly sensitive to their natural and cultural resources and are therefore exemplary in nature.194 The latest step was the announcement of 2018 as the European Year of Cultural Heritage, to encourage regional and local development by representing a specific objective within the context of sustainable tourism.195 Based on these publications and actions, it can be concluded that over the last years, fostering sustainable tourism for Europe has been of tremendous importance for the Commission.

Nevertheless, Peeters et al. (2015) claim that despite the developing holistic recognition of the importance of sustainable tourism, there is still “a relative absence of a policy framework.”196 Although financial funding is available for different sustainable tourism projects, it is not linked to a strong orientation towards or a strategic vision for the development of tourism. Tourism and non- tourism policies and the harmonization of the political framework conditions are the prerequisites for a sustainable and competitive vision of the development of tourism. In fact, EU actions in tourism are not shaped by a generally accepted reference strategy with a specific tourism action program or a direct financial fund for sustainable tourism development. There is a strong EU

186 TSG 2007, p. 13 187 TSG 2007, p. 14 188 TSG 2007, p. 15 189 TSG 2007, p. 16 190 Cp. TSG 2007, p. 18 191 European Commission 2006b 192 European Commission 2007 193 European Commission 2010 194 Cp. BMWFW 2014, p. 11 195 Cp. European Commission 2018, n.p. 196 Peeters et al. 2015, p. 52 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 35/127 involvement in supplying a set of diverse and large resources and financial support to tourism stakeholders at a local or regional level. More than one third of the aforementioned LEADER projects, for example, contain aspects relating to tourism and are thus an important driver for rural development.197 Due to the interconnections between the tourism industry and other sectors and activities, the European Commission published a “Guide for EU funding for the tourism sector” to provide an overview of different European funds and its potential application for the tourism sector, such as the European Fund for Strategic Investments or the European Regional Development Fund.198

3.2.3. European Tourism Indicators System for Sustainable Destination Management In order to manage the information on sustainable tourism in Europe, the Commission already claimed in 2003 that there was an urgent need for user-friendly and reliable reporting mechanism.199 Especially due to Europe’s position as the world’s No. 1 tourism destination and because Europeans are the most frequent travelers, a regular and accurate evaluation of the impacts of tourism in Europe is indispensable.200 After the millennium, the European Environmental Agency worked on the Tourism and Environment Reporting Mechanism (TOUERM), which already provides some key indicators. Moreover, some regional indicator systems were designed and tested.201 However, the approaches and developments during this time did not yet represent a holistic concept.

This gap was closed in 2013, when the European Commission officially brought in the European Tourism Indicator System for sustainable destination management (ETIS). As it represents a voluntary management tool with a compilation of core indicators, no certification is provided nor a set of minimum or maximum values which should be achieved by a destination. However, it offers destinations the basic information needed to evaluate and monitor their sustainability and, thus, effectively deal with tourism activity.202 ETIS consists of 43 core indicators (for a detailed description, see Appendix 3) that are divided into the following four categories203:

- “1. destination management - 2. social and cultural impact - 3. economic value - 4. environmental impact”

197 Cp. Peeters et al. 2015, p. 45 ff 198 Cp. European Commission 2016b, pp. 1 ff 199 Cp. European Commission 2003, pp. 8 ff 200 Cp. Giulietti 2016, p. 1 201 Cp. European Commission 2003, pp. 8 ff 202 Cp. European Commission 2016a, p. 3 203 European Commission 2016a, p. 3 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 36/127

Additionally, a number of supplementary indicators can be included in the reporting mechanism that can be used if a destination wants to monitor additional information. By covering the dimensions of sustainability at a local level, ETIS represents an integrated management system that provides information on various activities and aspects to help a destination improve its sustainability. In addition to a 7-step guide, the Commission also provides several IT supporting documents that assist a destination in implementing ETIS.204

3.2.4. International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development As already described in subchapter 2.2.3, the tourism industry can greatly contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Therefore, the UNWTO designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The main objective of this year was to mobilize all stakeholders of the tourism industry and raise awareness about the important role of tourism with regard to sustainable development.205 Sustainable tourism can especially contribute to the following key areas206:

- “1. Sustainable economic growth; - 2. Social inclusiveness, employment and poverty reduction; - 3. Resource efficiency, environmental protection and climate change; - 4. Cultural values, diversity and heritage; and - 5. Mutual understanding, peace and security.”

Together with the UNWTO and governments all over the world, the EU sets initiatives to provide information for creating a new culture of sustainability in tourism.207

3.3. Tourist flagship regions in the EU

Given the great number of tourism regions in the EU, different sustainability awards and certification programs, this chapter is not able to provide a comprehensive coverage of this entire field. However, it discusses a representative set of regions to illustrate how the previously mentioned theoretical deliberations have been successfully put into practice.

3.3.1. National and natural parks in Spain and Paradores

Spain has a large number of natural parks. Many of them, especially those that are protected, are associated with a unique concept of sustainable tourism: Paradores de Turismo de España208.

204 Cp. European Commission 2016a, pp. 11 f 205 Cp. UNWTO 2017b, n.p. 206 UNWTO 2017a, p. 15 207 Cp. UNWTO 2017a, p. 7 208 Cp. Paradores de Turismo de España 2014, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 37/127

Usually located directly in or in the immediate vicinity of nature reserves, Paradores de Turismo de España was founded in 1928 and is a 100 percent state-owned hotel and restaurant company. The hotel chain counts 15 castles, 14 monasteries, 12 palaces, 6 unique historic buildings and 47 traditional and new buildings. The aim of this concept is to strengthen the image of Spanish tourism through a commitment to the historical, economic and natural environment. In addition to this connection to sustainable development, it tries to offer a personalized and distinctive service with high quality standards. The fundamental idea of this tourism concept was to preserve the artistic and historical value of half-ruined monuments such as the Monastery de Jesus in Merida and refurbish these buildings so that they can be used appropriately and financed through tourism. This linking of a valuable cultural heritage with the tourism sector enables these buildings to become self-sustainable. Since its inception, the hotel chain has also become an instrument of state tourism policy that has established its own quality, disability-friendly facilities and environmental management systems to optimize a sustainable operating system in addition to strengthening regional development209. The main aim has not changed since its founding and reflects the concept of sustainable tourism:

“to run a hospitality business based on quality and respect for the environment, offering products and services which meet the needs of our guest, while also protecting and respecting natural surrounding.”210

Corporate sustainable tourism activities include the establishment of management systems, for instance to reduce waste and energy consumption, the integration of suppliers into their environmental goals (certified by UNE-EN-ISO 9001 ‘Quality Management Systems’ and UNE- EN-ISO 14001 ‘Environmental Management Systems’) and the intensification of synergies with local producers and suppliers to foster regional development. Furthermore, Paradores belongs to Spain’s United Nations Global Compact Association211. This association is based on ten principles in the areas of labor, human rights, anti-corruption and the environment for which CEO commit to adhere and thus contribute to the achievement of the UN goals.212. Through this voluntary initiative, the hotel chain agrees to comply with the ten principles in the areas of labor, human rights, anti-corruption and the environment.213

Paradores also works closely together with governmental stakeholders to achieve sustainable development. For example, Paradores entered into an agreement with the Spanish Ministry of the Environment in 1998 and thereby committed itself, among other things, to inform guests about the

209 Cp. Paradores de Turismo de España 2015, p. 3 f 210 Paradores de Turismo de España 2015, p. 6 211 Cp. Paradores de Turismo de España 2015, p. 6 ff 212 Cp. UN Global Compact 2019, n.p. 213 Cp. Paradores de Turismo de España 2015, p. 6 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 38/127 flora and fauna of the respective regions in a targeted manner, to distribute hiking maps on nature trails and to train their staff in the context of sustainability.214

In summary, it can be concluded that, based on the necessity to preserve historic buildings, Paradores became a successful sustainable tourism concept that takes all dimensions of sustainability in the areas this hotel chain operates in into account.

3.3.2. South Sardinia, Italy In 2016, the European Commission awarded South Sardinia with the ETIS and Accessible Tourism Award as the top sustainable tourism destination in Europe (see subchapter 3.2.3). The pilot project called ‘Visit South Sardinia’ (VSS) tried to combine EU and UN sustainability indicators to measure and monitor the progress in sustainable tourism management and formed an overall destination management organization.215 Therefore, it is worth highlighting the process that led to this recognition.

VSS includes the Gulf of Angels as well as four other coastal municipalities of Sardinia. The coastal areas of the island are dry and mountainous, but the wide valley in the south enables agricultural activities. For a long time, tourism in this area mainly focused on the summer season.216

However, South Sardinia had to face different challenges in recent years. The economic crisis around 2010 led to a decrease of tourism arrivals, environmental concerns were caused both by coastal erosion and the rising sea level, and unemployment due to the seasonality in tourism and the closure of extractive industries created social concerns on the island.217

Starting in 2013, the destination management organization of VSS participated in the first implementation phase of ETIS. For this purpose, public sector stakeholders in southern Sardinia joined forces with other primary players in the tourism sector to manage and market South Sardinia as a travel destination. In the course of this project, a sustainable tourism performance measuring system was developed and implemented in collaboration with the University of Cagliari and the University of Milano-Bicocca.218 Aside from the implementation of ETIS, South Sardinia was also the first to adopt the destination criteria of the GSTC in the Mediterranean area.219 The base used for VSS was the ETIS toolkit (see Appendix 3). Publicly available statistical information at a local level as well as ad hoc surveys covering further main stakeholders of VSS (residents, tourists and day visitors, enterprises, local public actors) were used as data sources. As a result, the VSS

214 Cp. Will 2000, p. 20 f 215 Cp. European Commission 2016c, n.p. 216 Cp. GSTC 2013, p. 2 217 Cp. GSTC 2013, p. 2 f 218 Cp. Modica et al. 2018, p. 2 219 Cp. GSTC 2013, p. 2 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 39/127 project reached a satisfactory result: South Sardinia was determined as a sustainable destination.220 The following table summarizes the percentage results for each ETIS category the VSS could collect and calculate:

Category % Destination management 67 Social and cultural impacts 50 Economic value 50 Environmental impact 35

Table 1: Percentages of ETIS indicators calculated in the VSS project for each ETIS category Source: own compilation based on Modica et al. 2018, p. 11

The involved parties also identified some problems and challenges in the implementation of ETIS. The main challenge was the problem of gathering data. As can be seen in the overall percentage of indicators in the category of environmental impact in the table above, this value was quite low due to the relatively small enterprise sample representativeness of the survey and missing data. Therefore, the destination management organization of the VSS project warns that “in the absence of sufficient hard data, caution must be exercised in the interpretation of these indicators”221.

Nevertheless, South Sardinia is on the right path. This example shows that, even if not every single indicator of the ETIS toolkit can be applied at every destination, the first necessity is to evaluate the current state of a destination’s sustainability in order to manage and improve it.

3.3.3. South West Wales, England As already mentioned in the challenges of tourism in subchapter 2.1.2 and in the example of South Sardinia, tourism destinations are often confronted with seasonal peaks with regard to consumption and employment. This last aspect was addressed in a strategy called ‘Open all year’ by South West Wales in the UK. Initiated in 2004, the South West Wales Regional Tourism Partnership was designated as the strategic authority to implement this strategy. Major weaknesses of this region were that the tourism services in Wales are fragmented and not very extensive, meaning that there is limited coordination between the tourism offerings and high seasonality. Based on the strategic objective set by the authority, the implementation of the activities was mainly carried out by local consortia. These activities include:

- Stronger partnership and information sharing between the tourism stakeholders, - Realignment of marketing to non-seasonal options, - Responsible development and preservation of ecological (e.g. coastal resorts), cultural (e.g. ancient castles) and economic resources, as also infrastructure for the benefit of the local community and tourists

220 Cp. Modica et al. 2018, p. 6 f 221 Modica et al. 2018, p. 16 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 40/127

- Enhancement of the performance and practices of the tourism business

Together with the initiatives, a monitoring regime was introduced to highlight the effectiveness of the various activities. Particularly South West Wales experienced a significantly faster increase in the total number of tourists between 2006 and 2011 compared to Wales. This result also include an increased share of off-season tourists for South West Wales (from 25 percent in 2006 to 33 percent in 2011), which represents a higher achievement in the sense of the strategy ‘Open all year’.222

It can be observed that the strategy is still effective today. The South West Wales Tourism Partnership remains the principal mechanism for integrating sustainable destination management at a local level. Pembrokeshire, for instance, a popular coastal destination in the southwest, attributes a central role to the partnership with regard to connecting happenings in the region with local actions. The Destination Pembrokeshire Partnership published their own destination management plan in 2017, based on the objectives set in the ‘Open all year’ strategy.223

3.3.4. Cairngorms National Park, Scotland The Cairngorms National park is a unique natural treasure of the UK and is officially listed as a protected area by the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism. In 2005, the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) decided to adopt a sustainable tourism strategy in order meet the requirements of the Charter and develop and manage tourism in this area in a sustainable manner.224

The economy of this national park mainly relies on its natural resources: farming, forestry as well as the tourism sector, which can be divided into ski tourism and natural tourism and accounts for 80 percent of the economy. The main challenges this region has to face are connected to the high seasonality of employment. From an environmental perspective, pressure arose from the large numbers of tourists arriving with cars and masses of walking tourists in the summer season that led to erosion and the destruction of footpaths. The expansion of infrastructure measures for tourism partly destroys and has destroyed beautiful, unspoiled nature. Furthermore, the high average house price compared to the national average, due to the large amount of second homes, represents a major social issue for the local population. This makes it especially challenging for young people to stay in their hometowns or build their own home.225

222 Cp. CSES 2013, p. 25 f. 223 Cp. Destination Pembrokeshire Partnership 2017, p. 3 ff 224 Cp. CNPA 2005, p. 1 225 Cp. CNPA 2005, p. 3 f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 41/127

In order to address these challenges, the CNPA set out the following aims of the national park:

“1. To conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage.

2. To promote the sustainable use of the natural resources of the area.

3. To promote understanding and enjoyment (including enjoyment in the form of recreation) of the special qualities of the area by the public.

4. To promote sustainable, social and economic development of the communities of the area.”226

Ten years later, the Cairngorms Business Partnership published a report that illustrates the positive results of the CNPA’s efforts. For instance, the employment within the park could be increased by around 4.5 percent in the last five years. Furthermore, more younger people live in the park today, and it was possible to improve the sustainability of the infrastructure in the park.227 Nevertheless, even if this follow-up report includes a detailed action plan for this area for the next years, it is not exactly clear which actions will bring about these improvements.

226 CNPA 2005, p. 24 227 Cp. Cairngorms Business Partnership 2015, p. 5 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 42/127

4. Sustainable Tourism in Austria

4.1. The Economic Role of Austria’s Tourism

As mentioned in subchapter 3.1 with reference to the EU, the presentation of the economic dimension will be used as a starting point to evaluate the first dimension of sustainability for Austria’s tourism sector.

4.1.1. Macroeconomic perspective Data on the financial value added of Austrian tourism are published on the official websites of Statistics Austria and the Federal Economic Chamber of Austria. Although the most recent data are from 2018 and include the year 2017, it should be noted that the figures for 2017 are still forecast values for certain benchmarks for the time being, based on estimates by the Austrian Institute for Economic Research.

According to the TSA concept, tourism (including business travel) contributed 7.7 percent to the Austrian GDP in 2017. This corresponds to a monetary value of EUR 28,268 million. Over the last few years (including the period between 2010 to 2017), the share of GDP slightly increased from year to year. However, if the indirect value added effects according to the TSA concept are also considered, as well as the non-tourist leisure consumption (e.g. the consumption of locals at the place of residence if they also use the cable car available there), the proportion of tourism contributing to the GDP even amounts to 15.9 percent for 2017.228

In the context of the financial value added of Austrian tourism, the market share in international comparison is also important to determine Austria’s position against its competitors from a macroeconomic perspective. Within Europe, Austria has a market share of around 4.54 percent.229 It has maintained this rather low level in a European comparison since the turn of the millennium, with a slight increase in market share of 0.2 percent (calculated from 2000 to 2016). The top 3 in terms of the largest market share growth in international European tourism are Sweden, Croatia and Portugal. Within this period until 2016, Sweden gained 1.5 percent, Croatia 1.2 percent and Portugal 1.1 percent market share growth.230 In terms of international arrivals, Austria occupied the 11th rank of the top regions of the world in 2016, which is an improvement by two ranks since 2013.231

What should also be included in the consideration of value added is the aspect of regionality. Regionalism in terms of tourism includes almost all the offer components resulting from the development of tourism at a destination, such as tourist infrastructure, leisure infrastructure,

228 Cp. Statistik Austria 2018a, n.p. 229 Cp. UNWTO 2018, as cited in Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, p. 41 230 Cp. BMWFW 2017a, p. 16 231 Cp. UNWTO 2018, as cited in Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, p. 40 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 43/127 accommodation, gastronomy and special tourist offers.232 The Austrian tourism sector procures around 89 percent of its supplies such as products from agricultural production, or inputs such as carpentry, directly from Austria. Only 11 percent of the goods and services required for the catering and accommodation industry are imported.233 Therefore, tourism is important for regional value and work place creation. This reflects a general trend in tourism and is often used for promotional purposes and the branding of a destination. Regionality is helpful for ensuring authenticity, transparency and trust, and acts as a key piece of information for consumers to simplify their purchasing decisions. In relation to food and the guarantee of its origin, product-specific characteristics for foods such as “fresh”, “not genetically modified”, “eco-quality” or “species- appropriate animal husbandry” are also associated with the concept. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the statements regarding food and its associated properties do not necessarily have to apply objectively. As a result, numerous studies are confirming this trend towards regionality, and more and more approaches are being developed to actively communicate the regional origin of products.234

4.1.2. Corporate perspective When examining the macroeconomic data of the previous subchapter, it becomes obvious that the companies that generate these values also play an important role. According to the classification of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, the following trade associations, classified by their field of activity, belong to the tourism and leisure sector235:

- Gastronomy - Hotel industry - Health establishments - Travel agents - Cinema, cultural and entertainment businesses - Leisure and sports facilities

In total, 90,332 companies were affiliated to these trade associations in 2017, whereby most members belong to the gastronomy sector (almost 50 percent).236

In addition, the size structure is particularly important when considering the corporate structures in the Austrian tourism sector. As per December 2017, 26 percent of companies that were active in the tourism sector were micro-enterprises with a number of up to 9 employees, and 36.6 percent employed between 10 and 49 employees. For the other employment size groups, the number is gradually decreasing; only around 10 percent are large companies with 250 employees or more

232 Cp. Bühler 2012, p. 257 233 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, p. 8 234 Cp. Meifert/Rein 2012, p. 224 235 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, p. 106 236 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, p. 106 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 44/127 in this sector.237 Here, the tourism sector reflects the general size structure of the Austrian economy, which is characterized by SMEs: 99.6 percent of all commercial enterprises have less than 250 employees.238

As can already be deduced from the employment size structure data presented above, large stock companies only play a minor role in the tourism sector. Within the industry, small-scale structures are quite common, whereby almost three quarters are family-run tourism businesses.239 In the case of family-owned companies, the close integration of the family with the company or property is a particular characteristic. Even if there is not a more in-depth empirical basis for these insights at present, Strobl (2014) indicates that Austrian family-run tourism businesses are going to be more innovative than non-family-run companies.240 Among other things, this could be explained by the fact that family-run companies are more likely to keep the business for a long time and run it in a sustainable manner, so that they can pass it on to the next generation, in contrast to managers who are often only interested in short-term profits.

In addition to this classification according to the employment size structure, the number of beds also provides an insight into the magnitude of domestic tourism. The number of beds made available by commercial and private tourist accommodations amounts to around 1.04 million for the winter season and 1.06 million for the summer season in 2017. Three quarters of this number is provided by commercial and one quarter by private accommodation establishments. Regarding the respective seasons, the supply of beds has risen since the tourist year 2001/2002, especially in the winter season. In the summer season, the supply of accommodation has only increased very slightly.241

In terms of the type of accommodation with respect to the tourism year 2016/2017, especially providers of beds in the higher price ranges, such as the 4- and 5-star hotels, have increased in recent years, as well as providers of commercial holiday apartments. By contrast, the numbers of beds on offer at 1- and 2-star hotels and private quarters declined, and this popular trend continued in this type of accommodation in recent years. Nonetheless, there was an overall increase of 0.5 percent compared to the previous year.242

A trend that is currently not quantifiable for tourism as a whole represents a very new form of accommodation: the sharing platform Airbnb. Unlike hotel rooms, people offer their own rooms or apartments for short-term rentals, in which the online platform Airbnb severs as mediator. Above all, entire apartments and houses are rented out via the platform. Airbnb's idea of "sharing", the

237 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2017, p. 2 238 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018b, p. 7 239 Cp. Leodolter/Kaske 2017, p. 99 240 Cp. Strobl 2014, p. 131 241 Cp. Statistik Austria 2018a, n.p. 242 Cp. Statistik Austria 2018a, n.p September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 45/127 shared bedroom or living space, plays a subordinate role. Almost 70 percent of all offers are entire apartments that are used exclusively by tourists. In the years 2014 to 2017, for example, the number of Airbnb providers in Vienna increased sixfold.243 Therefore, it will be interesting to see what future impact the rising number of these new trend will have on traditional accommodation providers such as hotels.

4.1.3. Tourism demand in Austria In order to gain an insight into the demand side of Austrian tourism, aspects relating to overnight stays are of particular importance. Therefore, the following questions are clarified in this section: into which demand segments can domestic tourism be divided, how has the number and duration of overnight stays developed over the last few years, and which countries are the tourists from?

The following important regional and specific demand segments with different travel motives and a varying range of holiday activities can be listed for Austria:244

- City tourism - Alpine tourism (hiking and ski tourism) - Health and wellness tourism - Protected area tourism and climatic resorts - Lake tourism - Danube tourism - Holiday in the countryside

The accommodation statistics calculated by Statistik Austria provide important data on local tourism. 1,600 local authorities (representing about two thirds of the local authorities in Austria) report their information on accommodation if the respective local authorities can present more than 1,000 overnight stays per year. Arranged according to the type of accommodation and the country of origin, the overnight stays and arrivals of tourists are collected on a monthly basis. In addition, an inventory of the number of beds is carried out once a year (period from November to October).245

In total, around 43.1 million guests came to Austria in the 2017 calendar year, with 144.4 million nights spent. In terms of overnight stays, there was an increase of 2.55 percent compared to the previous year. Moreover, the number of guests even increased by 3.8 percent. The year before, the largest increase was registered; the number of guests rose by more than 5 percent. Regarding the tourism year 2017, the demand for overnight stays in the summer season was stronger, with

243 Cp. Seidl et al. 2018, pp. 71 f 244 Cp. Fleischhacker/Formayer 2007, p. 9 245 Cp. Statistik Austria 2018b, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 46/127 an average duration of stay of 4.4 days, than the preceding year.246 In Austria, particularly the average duration of stay has been subject to a continuous decline over the past 30 years. While guests still stayed for an average of 5.5 nights in 1986, the current duration has almost halved. At least at spas, the current length remains nearly constant, with an average of 4.3 nights, while city tourism only recorded an average of 2.5 nights. In terms of the type of accommodation, commercial holiday homes and apartments are leading the way with 5.6 nights, compared to hotels with 3.2 nights.247 In Austria, this does not reflect the EU trend in terms of the average length of stay. With an average stay of 8 nights in the EU, Austria is under the EU average, whereby this average increased slightly between 2013 and 2016.248 This development may be explained by more city trips in Austria. There has been a trend towards an increased number of overnight stays in densely populated areas such as Vienna, Graz or Salzburg over the past 15 years. In urban tourism, a dynamic increase in overnight stays of around 4 percent per year since 2000 has been achieved on average. This development dropped slightly in 2016 for the first time. By contrast, the rural regions of Austria were clearly the winners, among them ski resorts, which witnessed an increase of 4.4 percent in average overnight stays.249

Summer Season Winter Season

Figure 8: Development of Overnight Stays in Austria Source: Statistik Austria 2018c, n.p.

As shown in the figure above, a constant growth trend in overnight stays in the summer season has continued since 2009. Following the decline in overnight stays in the winter seasons 2007/2008 to 2010/2011, and after a further decline between the seasons 2012/2013 and 2013/2014, a strong plus was also recorded in the last three winter seasons. This increase in tourism demand can largely be explained by the rather stable weather conditions in the summer over the last few years, which enabled Austria to reestablish itself as an attractive tourist

246 Cp. Statistik Austria 2018c, n.p. 247 Cp. Statistik Austria 2018c, n.p. 248 Cp. Centre for Economics and Business Research 2017, p. 11 249 Cp. BMWFW 2017a, p. 19 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 47/127 destination in the summer season. Compared with the 28 EU Member States, Austrian tourism grew by around 2 percent faster than its European competitors and, in addition, was able to reduce the widely identifiable trend in the EU towards shorter tourist stays.250 This aspect of changed weather conditions will be discussed in more detail in subchapter 4.3.

Furthermore, it has to be clarified which countries the Austrian tourists are from. The leader in overnight stays for 2017 is Germany, followed by the Netherlands and Switzerland251. In addition, the overnight stays of residents can also be accounted with a significant portion of nearly a third.252 The strongest loss in overnight stays was recorded for Russian guests. An upward trend can be seen in the number of domestic tourists in seven out of nine provincial capitals; Vienna even recorded an increase of 7.9 percent. Foreign tourists also increasingly visited the provincial capitals, though not as frequently as domestic tourists.253

4.2. Societal and Cultural Perspectives within Austria’s Tourism

With respect to the societal perspective of sustainability, it is obvious that this sector also represents an important labor market. In general, employment in tourism is characterized by a high instability with high turnover, short duration of employment, high risk of unemployment and, particularly, by difficult working conditions and special working hours (work on weekend and public holidays, seasonal work).254

Compared to other sectors, there are special aspects of the domestic tourism market that require detailed consideration:

- Increased unemployment rate compared to the Austrian total unemployment rate, - High proportion of women, - Mobility of tourist workers and - High proportion of apprentices.

The tourism and leisure industry (including the leisure consumption of the Austrian population) is both directly and indirectly responsible for almost one in five full-time jobs. Based on data on social insurance, 496,960 people were employed for at least one day of the year in the hotel and restaurant industry in 2017. Thereby, the number of occupations in the hotel and restaurant industry has increased steadily in recent years.255

250 Cp. BMWFW 2017a, p. 15 251 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, p. 63 252 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, p. 63 253 Cp. Statistik Austria 2018b, n.p. 254 Cp. Leodolter/Kaske 2017, pp. 58 f 255 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, pp. 8 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 48/127

Above all, the provision of services in this sector is characterized by just-in-time employment. This leads to enormous fluctuations in demand for available labor within the respective tourism periods.256 Therefore, employment and unemployment in tourism are subject to strong seasonal fluctuations. At the end of July 2017, in the middle of the summer season, 32,674 people were registered as unemployed in tourism, 2,453 fewer than in July 2016 (-7.0 percent). The number of unemployed persons is typically much lower than the annual average in this sector.257 A further characteristic in the tourism sector is that they tend to have short periods of unemployment but additionally a comparatively shorter duration of employment. Nevertheless, almost a quarter of people who were registered as unemployed knew where they were going to work next. Less than half of the employees were continuously employed for an entire year in 2016.258 Especially in the months of April and November, seasonal peaks in unemployment can be observed, predominantly in western federal states such as Tyrol or Salzburg. By comparison, this pattern is only slightly noticeable in Vienna. One explanation for this is the city tourism and the more pronounced seasonal business in rural areas.259

Women are more affected by unemployment in tourism than their male counterparts, as a higher proportion of women are self-employed in this sector. On an annual average in 2016, the female quota of tourism workers was 57.4 percent.260 In addition, the industry is characterized by an increasing proportion of foreign workers. In 2016, 47.6 percent of all persons employed in tourism were of foreign origin, which corresponds to 99,173 people. Compared to the Austrian total share of foreign employees in the entire labor market, more than 2.5 times as many foreigners work in tourism than in other sectors. Compared to 2015, these new figures represent an increase of 5.8 percent, while there was only a small increase of 0.2 percent among the domestic population.261 Most foreign workers are from neighboring countries like Hungary or Germany.262

Above all, this high proportion can be explained by the fact that the recruitment of workers in Austrian tourism represents a major challenge for the tourism industry. A survey carried out by KMU Research Austria in 2017 revealed that the availability of labor is a crucial competitive factor, and that recruitment is currently the biggest challenge for tourism companies.263 This situation is also reflected in the proportion of apprentices. In 2016, an average of 1,435 apprenticeships were available in tourism. By contrast, only 533 apprenticeship seekers were active in this industry.264 In 2017, 8.4 percent of Austrian apprentices belong to the tourism industry.265

256 Cp. Dorofeenko et al. 2017, p. 2 257 Cp. AMS 2017, p. 1 258 Cp. BMWFW 2017a, p. 34 259 Cp. AMS 2017, p. 3 260 Cp. AMS 2017, p. 3 261 Cp. BMWFW 2017a, p. 34 262 Cp. AMS 2017, p. 3 263 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, pp. 119 f 264 Cp. BMWFW 2017a, p. 35 265 Cp. Wirtschaftskammer Österreich 2018a, p. 114 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 49/127

Nevertheless, tourism not only represents a positive aspect as an economic driver and employer; every tourist leaves a mark on the hosts and the region. In places where there is a lot of tourism, conflicts between locals and tourists have been expanding in the last few decades. The causes are varied, ranging from different lifestyles to structural changes made for tourists. In many cases, residents felt that they were no longer in control of their own town or city and were opposed to further tourist developments. For example, the inhabitants of Vent in the Ötztal (Federal State Tyrol) vehemently rejected new hotels in their mountain village at the beginning of the 1980s.266 Nevertheless, in a study investigating how locals perceive tourism, Šegota et al. (2017) discovered that residents who are more involved in and informed about the plans and strategies for sustainable tourism development have a more positive perception than residents who are less informed. Therefore, residents play a critical part in the stakeholder participation process.267 In addition, locals also benefit from the tourism offers, as they often have greater possibilities for recreational activities.

Especially at the regional level in Austria, tourism is a crucial factor in helping people contribute to the development of their region. With regard to the marketing of handicrafts, an example from Vorarlberg shows how regional products attract tourists in the region. One single craft merger in Vorarlberg generated 40.000 to 50.000 excursion tourists. Another example in the Lesachtal (Federal State Carinthia) shows that tourists’ purchases of regional food at farmers’ shops amount to up to 80 percent of the turnover of these farmers’ shops.268 In order to maximize the compatibility with and satisfaction of the local population, an intensive exchange of experiences between regions and stakeholders should be encouraged by269:

- Limiting tourism capacities to avoid individual and social overload - Establishment of an independent regional development, which is co-designed, implemented and designed by the locals according to their own needs - Clear, confident demarcation of individual freedom and clarification of the limits of the relationship between locals and guests

When asked how much tourism a region can tolerate from a societal and cultural perspective, the question of the right number of tourists arises.

The impact of tourism on a community is reflected in the number of tourists in this specific region. Increasing the value of tourism also increases cultural change in the community. Therefore, it is assumed that a negative influence is lower at a ratio of 1 bed to 5 locals and, thus, results in a more sustainable relationship between tourism and the community. In Austrian average, about 63

266 Cp. Leodolter/Kaske 2017, p. 85 267 Cp. Šegota et al. 2017, p. 197 268 Cp. Baumgartner/Schwenoha n.d., p. 5 269 Cp. Leodolter/Kaske 2017, p. 94 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 50/127 percent of all tourism communities have a ratio of less than 1:5 (1 = tourist bed, 5 = locals). The reason for this high percentage is the small community structure in Austria. However, there are also communities that have a ratio of 1:2, which can be seen as a burden on the local population270. Nevertheless, burdens can only be defined in relation to those affected. Whether, when and to what extent a situation is perceived to be stressful can only be determined subjectively.271

Finally, the cultural perspective of domestic tourism must be considered. Cultural sites are also part of the common heritage of humankind and should be protected and maintained as such, so they can be preserved for future generations. Due to the awareness such sites raise for tourists, tourism is also retentive and increasing in these special regions. In Austria, nine World Heritage Regions are officially included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, such as the old town of Salzburg, the region Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut and the Semmeringbahn. Jeschke (2012) claims that the instruments of the Austrian tourism and leisure industry are mature and efficient in their implementation. Yet, the preservation of the cultural heritage (the cultural landscape) and thus a basic resource of cultural (landscape) tourism in a broad sense by means of planning instruments is still pending.272 Authorities and tourism managers are obliged to ensure that cultural sites are not affected negatively by tourism. Entrance fees can be used to maintain cultural sites and, thus, make a positive contribution to preserving them.273 Here, it is crucial to have an overall concept for the development of culture and tourism in connection with a World Heritage area: this concept should provide guidelines for the thematically and economically adequate supply development and include a tourist management plan with information on compatibility limits.274

4.3. Environmental Dimension of Austria’s Tourism

In view of the environmental dimension of tourism, two aspects are of particular importance: the influence of environmental conditions on domestic tourism and the influence that tourism has on the environment.

Changing environmental circumstances like climate change have both positive and negative effects on tourism. Steiger et al. (2017) state that the “ski industry is regarded as the tourism market most directly and immediately affected by climate change.”275 Austria represents one of the top four ski tourism nations in Europe. In comparison to its main competitors Switzerland, France and Italy, a recent study predicts an increase of 2°C warming, and the resulting changes

270 Cp. Baumgartner/Schwenoha n.d., p. 3 271 Cp. Fraaz/König 1998, as cited in Leodolter/Kaske 2017, p. 84 272 Cp. Jeschke 2012, p. 370 273 Cp. BMWFW 2014, pp. 12 f 274 Cp. Jeschke 2012, p. 348 275 Steiger et al. 2017, p. 1 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 51/127 in snow conditions such as snow scarcity will lead to the highest losses in overnight stays within Austria.276

Another study paints a similarly bad picture of the situation in Austria: The interdisciplinary project COIN (Cost of Inactivity – Assessing Costs of Climate Change for Austria) evaluates the economic impact of climate change on Austria. It analyzes the potential effects of climate change in combination with socio-economic changes in 12 key sectors, including tourism as one of these. In three climate scenarios (low, moderate, strong climate change) and three socio-economic scenarios (low, middle, high sensitivity), the monetary losses due to climate change in winter exceed the gains in summer tourism. The scenario of moderate climate change assumes an average temperature increase of 1.0°C, an annual change in rainfall of 1.4 percent increasement and a change in days precipitation of 2.1 percent increasement between the reference period (1981–2010) and the first scenario period 2016–2045. Moderate socioeconomic developments suggest an average change in overnight stays of +0.8 percent per year and tourist weather sensitivity as observed in the past (1973-2006), as well as an average increase in real tourist spending per night of 0.8 percent per year. Therefore, net losses for tourism are already to be expected, based on low climate change and the low sensitivity of the sector for climatic changes. Overall, moderate climate change is predicted to cost tourism around EUR 90 million per year in the period from 2016 to 2045, and around EUR 300 million per year from 2036 to 2065. In addition, the overall economic damage caused by the decline in overnight stays due to moderate climate change is more than 60 percent higher than in the tourism sector itself.277

Based on a critical review of the growing number of publications focusing on sensitivity to snow conditions, Steiger et al. (2017) analyzed 119 studies based on data from 27 countries worldwide (including Austria) and identified six major aspects out of these studies that challenge winter tourism:278

- Decreasing snow depth and thereby less reliable slopes of natural snow - Increased and costly demands on snow production - Temporal unreliable and shorter ski seasons - Decreasing number of ski resorts and businesses in operation - A change in competitiveness on the regional ski markets - Related negative effects on employment in ski tourism

To compensate the sinking snow depth, most ski resorts have resorted to artificial snow production for several decades now, but is this economically sensible? Based on a cost and revenue analysis for Austrian ski resorts, Damm et al. (2014) evaluated whether this pays off under future climate

276 Cp. Damm et al. 2017, p. 37 277 Cp. Köberl et al. 2014, p. 1 278 Cp. Steiger et al. 2017, pp. 9 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 52/127 conditions. The authors concluded that, under the current snowmaking system, the total snowmaking time is expected to fall slightly, while electricity costs are expected to rise. Therefore, ski resort operators are expected to experience a significant increase in total energy costs. For tourists, these increased energy costs mean that the prices for lift tickets may be raised, but due to the overall decreasing natural snow depths combined with unimaginable price increases, the number of ski visitors will further decline in the long run.279 An opposite result of artificial snow production is provided in a study by Falk (2010). The author conducted a panel data analysis for the period between the winter season 1986/87 and 2005/2006. The results indicated that the impact of the natural snow depth on overnight stays was low because more than half of the slopes in Austria were equipped with snow production systems and could compensate the reduced natural snow depth during these periods.280 Nonetheless, this study did not include any costs for the snow production for companies. Furthermore, ecological aspects such as water consumption or potentially other externalities have been neglected in these studies.

Despite these studies, some of Austrian winter tourism businesses do not take the risks of climate change seriously enough. As Trawöger (2014) discovered in a study focusing on the perceptions of winter tourism operators in Tyrol, climate change is mainly seen as a global phenomenon rather than an industry-specific or regional challenge and, therefore, is not addressed proactively by the relevant stakeholders.281

The exact impact of climate change is difficult to capture for winter tourism. The results of the different studies mainly consist of three different methods of evaluation: the assessment of changes in the physical conditions, which are essential to winter tourism, the measurement of the attractiveness of the tourist destination, based on climate indexes, and the inclusion of climate determinants in demand models.282 However, irrespective of the evaluation method, each study only considers individual chains of effects that are triggered by changes in snow, rain and temperature and, thus, influence the number of overnight stays, and these studies also use different scenarios of temperature increase. Moreover, current climate change scenarios occur to varying degrees in individual regions in Austria and are therefore not meaningful for all ski regions.283 For this reason, a truly predictable forecast cannot be given by any of these methods.

However, as already noted, climate change certainly impacts the market segments of summer tourism. During the summer months, a decrease in precipitation frequency and an increase in the frequency of stable weather periods are expected. This leaves enough time for summer tourists to plan nature-consuming activities, so-called outdoor activities. This also applies to transition

279 Cp. Damm et al. 2014, pp. 14 ff 280 Cp. Falk 2010, p. 920 281 Cp. Trawöger 2014, pp. 346 ff 282 Cp. Rosseló-Nadal 2014, pp. 335 f 283 Cp. Köberl et al. 2014, p. 1 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 53/127 seasons such as spring, where the earlier onset of the growing season extends the season for outdoor activities. In autumn, weather conditions that are more stable (Indian summer) are also expected to have a favorable effect.284 Several years ago, Fleischhacker/Formayer (2007) already listed these aspects as potential positive effects of climate change for nearly all market segments relevant for Austria (except ski tourism).285

Nevertheless, there are also disadvantages for summer tourism. As shown in the later chapter of the Salzkammergut, long, hot summers endanger the ecosystem of the lakes. Furthermore, due to the rapidly increasing heat load in midsummer particularly in urban areas, there will be a greater use of recreational areas and an increase in the desire for short trips for urban residents. Especially higher alpine areas with their pleasant cool climate in hot summers and sea tourism will benefit from this development.286 Fleischhacker/Formayer (2007) assume that, based on meteorological average data from the years 1996-2007, in the Carinthian lakes region, the midsummer weather conditions or the summer days will be extended by 3 to 4 weeks – to a total of around 3 months until around 2050 – thus offering great opportunities for a season extension.287

Abegg/Steiger (2016) criticize that such optimistic prognoses are just “some sort of wishful thinking based on very little scientific evidence”.288 The tourists’ preferences regarding different activities needs to be identified if the potential impact on tourism should be assed, but in most summer tourism studies, there is a lack of basic knowledge. The authors argue that most existing studies can predominantly be classified as speculative.289 However, despite this criticism, it is obvious that an increase in classic summer segments such as lake tourism can be expected if temperatures are higher and there is less precipitation.

Irrespective of the changing environmental conditions and their impact on tourism, tourism also leaves its marks on the environment. The variety of visitors in Austria have endangered the delicate ecosystems. Against the background of this development, problems seem to be preprogrammed in the future. If protected areas, for example, are faced with an increasing amount of visitors, it will be more difficult for them to fulfill their original purpose of protecting nature.

Since the 1970s, load-bearing capacity research has been concerned with the question of how many visitors an area can cope with. The difficulty in identifying exposure to visitors lies in the complex interactions that influence the cause-and-effect relationship between use and burden.290

284 Cp. BMWFW 2015a, p. 23 285 Cp. Fleischhacker/Formayer 2007, p. 39 286 Cp. BMWFW 2015a, p. 23 287 Cp. Fleischhacker/Formayer 2007, p. 43 288 Abegg/Steiger 2016, p. 268 289 Cp. Abegg/Steiger 2016, p. 275 290 Cp. Garthe 2007, pp. 19 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 54/127

This relationship of natural conditions, use/type of load, the behavior of users, use intensity and the time of use is illustrated in the following figure:

behavior of users use/type of time of use load

natural total load use intensity conditions

Figure 9: Main factors that affect the relationship of the environmental load-bearing capacity Source: own compilation based on Garthe 2007, p. 19

Despite the different methods used to set the maximum number of visitors to comply with the load- bearing capacity principle, these theoretical and practical approaches are currently in deficit. Factors needed for the calculation are highly dependent on the situation and location, and potential preloads cannot be generalized. The complexity of the circumstances means that sufficiently reliable statements about the cause-effect relationship are not available and a maximum number of visitors cannot be calculated with a universal calculation formula.291 Unfortunately, tourism has already had several negative consequences for the environment in Austria: from a strong loss of biodiversity caused by quick industrial and economic transformations for the development of the tourism industry to the expansion of transport and infrastructure for tourism.292 As Malik et al. (2016) state, “The interrelationships between international tourism, biodiversity loss, environmental sustainability, and growth issues are extremely complex and dynamic in nature that required strategic planning and wisdom to conserve natural environment by sustainable tourism policy framework.”293

Another aspect of tourism that impacts the environment is mobility. Studies show that the majority of greenhouse gases and energy consumption is caused by origin-to-destination transport. As greenhouse gas emissions are global problems and cannot be solved by tourism alone, there is a need to make progress at the destination level of tourism if effective improvements are to be achieved. Target-specific baseline scenarios can help provide local target planners with a detailed view of the dimensions and relations of emissions caused by different types of origin-to-destination transport. For example, Unger et al. (2016) developed the MATT (Model of Alpine Tourism and Transport), a model specifically dedicated to this problem at the Austrian ski resort Alpbach in

291 Cp. Garthe 2007, pp. 22 f 292 Cp. Malik et al. 2016, p. 24178 293 Malik et al. 2016, p. 24178 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 55/127

Tyrol.294 Nevertheless, the development of soft mobility transport concepts for tourism regions could help deal with the problem itself instead of simply measuring it.

Tourism also has a negative impact on energy consumption. The use of energy in tourism is above the average of the overall service sector and plays a major role in energy consumption. The higher energy input compared to other sectors mainly results from arrival and departure, accommodation and activities on site (e.g. mobility behavior, wellness, swimming pool).295 Further examples of negative environmental impacts are the increased water consumption or waste generation by tourists, which a tourism region must deal with.

4.4. National Programs and Initiatives

4.4.1. Tourism Governance in Austria At the national level, the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT) that is structured by seven sectors is responsible for tourism policy. In addition to other tasks, this ministry is responsible for the strategic orientation of international tourism policy, international organizations and institutions in tourism, the representation of Austria in the EU, and functions as a central contact point for the tourism and leisure industry from a company perspective.296 The ministry was restructured in July 2018 to include the sections “Tourism and Regional Policy” and “Climate Protection”. By incorporating the tourism department into the Ministry of Sustainability and grouping it together with the regional policy into a separate section, the ministry aimed to bundle tasks and responsibilities relating to sustainable tourism.297 The organizational structure of tourism can be found in Appendix 4.

As in the EU, the tourism sector in Austria has a variety of funding options within national and federal financial supporting schemes, some of which include criteria that aim to foster sustainability in tourism. For example, the Austrian Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry calls for tenders for the development of sustainable and cross-border tourism projects. At the provincial level, for example, the ÖkoBusinessPlan Wien or the Tyrolean Project Funding for Sustainable Development can also be mentioned.298

According to the BMNT, Austria’s tourism policy has been following the path of quality tourism for years: in particular, sustainable quality improvements in all areas will be sought instead of a pure capacity expansion.299 These efforts have been implemented primarily through political programs

294 Cp. Unger et al. 2016, p. 476 295 Cp. Umweltbundesamt 2013, p. 231 296 Cp. BMNT 2018a, pp. 108 ff 297 Cp. BMNT 2018b, n.p. 298 Cp. Baumgartner/Schwenoha n.d., p. 6 299 Cp. BMNT 2018c, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 56/127 and initiatives. Therefore, after this brief organizational overview, the most important national programs and initiatives implemented under the tourism policy in Austria will now be discussed in detail.

4.4.2. ÖSTRAT ÖSTRAT is the abbreviation for „Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Federal Government and Federal Provinces“. It serves as a common orientation and implementation framework for the federal and state governments to become more sustainable and was meant as a supplement to sustainability activities. This strategy derives from the Lisbon Strategy as also the MDGs300 and incorporates three political instances301:

- the EU Sustainable Development Strategy - the Sustainability Strategy of the Federal Government (NSTRAT 2002) - and the strategies and initiatives for sustainable development of the Federal Provinces

The ÖSTRAT consists of individual initiatives and programs and intends to supplement activities for sustainable development, which are set entirely by the federal government, by individual ministries based on their sectoral responsibilities or individual federal states. It is primarily targeted at politics and administration and opens up spaces for topic-specific cooperation between the individual partners (federal states, regions, municipalities, social partners and civil society organizations). The existing mechanisms of the Federal Governments are used for the coordination and implementation of the activities.302 The first and for the time being last ÖSTRAT progress report was published in 2011303 and includes the description and progress of the first 43 implementation projects after the first two years since this project began. The linking of planning and control within the framework of the strategy (initiatives are set, monitored for reviewing progress and proposals for assessing sustainability) represents the innovative element of ÖSTRAT. Overall, the work program consists of seven subordinate topics304, two of which are especially relevant for sustainable tourism: sustainability at a local and regional level (topic 3) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a success factor for the business and work location in Austria (topic 5).

Successful initiatives are e.g. Green Events or the EU-based initiative of the LEADER approach305, which is integrated into individual initiatives of the ÖSTRAT. Since the beginning of June 2015, 77 Local Action Groups (LAGs) in Austria have implemented their respective Local Development Strategy (LES) within the framework of LEADER. The LES’ form the basis for the priorities,

300 Cp. BMNT 2019c, n.p. 301 Cp. BMNT 2018e, n.p. 302 Cp. BMNT 2011, p. 3 303 Cp. BMNT 2018e, n.p. 304 Cp. BMNT 2011, pp. 5 ff 305 Cp. BMNT 2019c, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 57/127 objectives and implementation of the measures selected by the regions. In addition, they also define the project selection processes and funding levels.306

One of the initiatives that specifically relates to topic 3 is called “Gentle Mobility in Tourism”. The aim of the initiative is to bundle the activities for smooth mobility in tourism in Austria, whereby there is also a close cooperation with neighbouring countries. Improvements in tourist traffic should also maximize the daily mobility of the local population. A concrete action of this initiative is, for instance, a market position in negotiations with transport companies on favourable offers or creating new connections between main transhipment points and tourist regions.307 In 2016, a separate manual for practitioners was published by the BMWFW for this nationwide initiative. In addition to action areas (where and how a destination could influence the mobility behaviour of guests most effectively), it explains the building blocks of gentle mobility in more detail. As every destination is different, selected building blocks for soft mobility offers in tourism are presented. There are many successful examples where the combination of various building blocks for arrival and departure and mobility on the ground (creation of mobility offers), but also for creating awareness of soft mobility (information and marketing) has proven itself.308 One best practice example in the context of topic 3 of the ÖSTRAT initiatives is the foundation of the “Pearls of the Alps”309, which will be discussed in more detail in subchapter 4.6.

However, as mentioned earlier, not only the initiatives at a political level are important; the segments of economic operators – the tourism companies – are just as relevant. This aspect is considered in the context of topic 5 of the ÖSTRAT. CSR is seen as a critical success factor for the business and work places in Austria. As per definition of the EU, CSR denotes the “responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society”.310 According to Oritz, head of the Vienna city competence team for sustainable, strategic and opportunity-oriented management of SMEs, CSR is particularly relevant to companies that leave a significant social and environmental footprint, e.g. due to a high energy consumption or an intensive need for human capital and natural resources, as is often the case in tourism. There is also increasing pressure for action from sophisticated consumers as well as political and civilian actors, such as NGOs. At the same time, increased attention represents also a great opportunity for companies that take their social and environmental responsibility already seriously. Addressing the topic of sustainability also guide to product and service innovations and thus to competitive advantages.311 However, CSR and its reporting in the Austrian tourism sector is just at its beginning.312 Only one initiative of ÖSTRAT specifically focuses on the corporate level and CSR. Therefore, it can be suggested that the

306 Cp. BMNT, 2018g, n.p. 307 Cp. BMNT 2011, pp. 18 f 308 Cp. BMWFW 2016, pp. 7 ff 309 Cp. BMNT 2011, p. 19 310 European Commission 2012, p. 3 311 Cp. Tirol Tourism Research 2018, n.p. 312 Cp. Zichtl, 2016, p. 43 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 58/127 relation of sustainable tourism in Austria to the corporate level is still less developed or recognized today.

4.4.3. “klimaaktiv” Initiative Starting in 2006, the national program “klimaaktiv” (climate active), a broad climate protection network which promotes national climate protection initiatives, is closely related to fostering gentle mobility in tourism. This program promotes measures for soft tourism and sustainable leisure activities for the tourism and leisure sector.313 It focuses on education and training, quality assurance, the development and implementation of standards, information and awareness raising and the networking of partners. The klimaaktiv mobile program promotes environmentally friendly and healthy mobility through management, alternative propulsion systems, electro-mobility and renewable energy as well as cycling and innovative public transport services.314

4.4.4. Masterplan Tourism315 In March 2019, the most up-to-date political step in the area of sustainable tourism in Austria was made with the presentation of the “Masterplan Tourism”, which should serve as a basis for sustainable tourism in the future. The Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism sees it as a necessity for domestic tourism to act in line with the current definition of a sustainable tourism destination defined by the UNWTO, i.e. tourism that fully reflects current and future economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts and takes the needs of guests, the tourism industry, the environment and the local population into account. Austria will only continue to be successful as a holiday destination in the long term if all three pillars of sustainability are taken into account and current challenges like e.g. digitalization, climate change and, in particular, the recruitment of skilled workers must be actively addressed in the near future. The guest is no longer the only one at the center of tourism policy; the needs of entrepreneurs and their employees, but also of the local population and the environment are just as important.

As a starting point in 2018, stakeholder interviews were conducted and representative surveys were carried out among tourism enterprises. At the heart of the strategy process were new dialogue-oriented future workshops throughout Austria, which used proposals and measures to lay the foundations for the further development of Austrian tourism. In the future, tourist destinations should not only meet the demands of their guests, but also increasingly focus on quality habitats where both the guests and the local population feel comfortable. The Masterplan also states that tourism must live up to its global responsibilities and contribute to the implementation of the UN SDGs.

313 Cp. BMNT 2018f, n.p. 314 Cp. BMNT 2011, p. 22 315 Cp. BMNT 2019a September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 59/127

A regular debate between politics and tourism is the most important concern of the Masterplan, as it is the only way to flexibly react to upcoming challenges in a timely manner. The concrete implementation steps for Austria as a tourism location are documented in a regularly scheduled action plan, whose implementation will be evaluated. The presentation of the Masterplan is the first important step towards a new quality of tourism policy in Austria.

4.5. Sustainability labels, standards and indicators with relevance for Austria

Sustainable business management is gaining importance in tourism and especially in the hotel industry. The industry is confronted with a multitude of quality labels, standards and organizations that use indicators to try to make environmental and sustainability efforts measurable and comprehensible. However, the orientation, coverage and awareness of these labels is very different and sometimes not very transparent. The lack of a categorization of the labels makes it even more difficult to anchor the subject in the industry.316 Some labels only cover the environmental aspect (e.g. EMAS) or social aspects (e.g. SA8000 – Social Accounting) of sustainability, while others, like the Bio Hotel certification, are only suitable for tourist accommodations. In literature, there is no national or international standard or label for sustainable tourism, which is why only selected ones are presented in this subchapter.

EMAS and Austrian Ecolabel

Starting with the EMAS, which was already described in subchapter 3.2, 248 Austrian companies are registered in the EMAS statistic. Even if the EMAS prize is awarded by the Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism, there are no tourism-specific numbers to highlight its application in practice.

316 Cp. Barth/Weber 2011, p. 3 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 60/127

The Austrian counterpart to the previously presented EU Ecolabel is the Austrian Ecolabel for tourism businesses. The logos of these three labels, the EU Ecolabel, the Austrian Ecolabel as also the EMAS logo are presented in the following three figures.

.

Figure 10: Austrian Ecolabel for tourism Figure 11: EMAS Logo Figure 12: The EU Ecolabel businesses Source: Österreichisches Source: Umweltbundesamt Source: European Commission Umweltzeichen 2018, n.p. 2018b, n.p. 2017b, n.p.

Since 1996, this label has been used to demonstrate the environmentally conscious management and social action of a tourism company to the outside world. Based on a comprehensive criteria catalogue, which also considers the EU Ecolabel criteria, it is easier for tourist accommodations to acquire the EU Ecolabel as well. For campsites, the directive has been fully adapted so that both labels can be applied without causing additional effort.317

As of September 2018, 406 Austrian companies that provide a total of 31,701 beds were certified with the Austrian Ecolabel for tourism businesses, and only 55 with the EU Ecolabel. Around 51 percent of these companies certified by the Austrian Ecolabel represent tourist accommodations and around a quarter community catering. The rest of the shares are establishments in gastronomy, shelters, campsites as well as meeting and event locations (e.g. Green events). It can be observed that the number of certified companies has risen steadily since the foundation of the label in 1996. Even if the criteria catalogue for the Austrian Ecolabel is derived from its EU counterpart, the number of tourism companies which also have the EU Ecolabel is still quite low.

317 Cp. BMLFUW 2012, p. 2 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 61/127

These developments can be seen in the following figure:

Austrian Ecolabel Tourism EU Ecolabel Tourism

450 400 406 350 366 300 250 240 200 195 179 150 140 100 50 50 55 18 30 0 80 0 3 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2018

Figure 13: No. of tourism companies certified with the Austrian vs. EU Ecolabel for tourism Source: Preslmair 2018, n.p.

Green Globe

An internationally-oriented certification that has a defined catalogue of sustainability criteria is the Green Globe standard. Established more than two decades ago, it specifically focuses on companies in the international travel and tourism industry and covers all three areas of sustainability.318 Green Globe’s certification system is sophisticated, but very workable and solely based on the Internet. To obtain the certificate, which is checked by an independent auditor twice a year, applicable indicators based on international standards like e.g. the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria must be met.319 In Austria, for example, the Seminarhotel Retter in Styria is represented, which has been able to recertify several times.320 A certification that is similar to the Green Globe is the Green Key Label321, which rather focuses on the environmental dimension than on all three sustainability dimensions. Austrian examples include, for instance, the international hotel chain Radisson, which operates locations in Linz and Vienna.322

Bio-Hotels

Another option, which, however, is focused only on the environmental pillar of sustainability especially for the hotel sector, is the Bio-Hotel award. The sustainable offer is an essential part of the marketing of Bio-Hotels and is actively brought closer to guests on site by their employees. All Bio-Hotels are regularly checked by independent inspection bodies and guarantee impeccable

318 Cp. Green Globe 2019a, n.p. 319 Cp. Green Globe 2019c, n.p. 320 Cp. Green Globe 2019b, n.p. 321 Cp. Green Key 2019, n.p. 322 Cp. Green Key 2019, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 62/127 ecological standards. Many of them have been selected by Geo Saison several times as one of the top ten eco-hotels in Europe323, for instance the Bio-Hotel Rupertus in Leogang (Salzburg), which offers 100 percent regional and organic products at its restaurant.324

EarthCheck and TourCert

The EarthCheck certification is a variant that is not purely business-oriented. This approach also enables a destination to be certified according to predefined sustainability criteria, mainly focusing on environmental and social sustainability325 and an independent auditor verifies the commitments made by the organization or company.326 The program represents “a worldwide network of destinations that aim to achieve world-leading sustainability outcomes”327. At present, only few destinations are certified, e.g. in Mexico, Australia or New Zealand.328 This certification shows that sustainability cannot only be implemented at the company level but can also be expanded much further. Therefore, even if no Austrian destination is currently certified according to the EarthCheck criteria, certified destinations can serve as a role model for Austrian regions. An option that is comparable to EarthCheck is the TourCert organization. TourCert advises and accompanies tourism companies like e.g. tour operators and destinations in the implementation of sustainable and successful business practices. Furthermore, it provides qualified interested parties with consultancy, seminars and online training courses relating to sustainable tourism. TourCert certifies and awards the TourCert seal of approval for sustainability and corporate responsibility in tourism and includes all three pillars of sustainability. TourCert’s criteria catalogues are based on international quality and environmental management standards according to ISO and EMAS as well as the ISO Guidelines for Corporate Responsibility (ISO 26000), and also derive from the international regulations of the GSTC.329 In Austria, only tour operators are currently certified.330

Ranking based on sustainability indicators

Another option that build on a sustainability standard is the ranking of a country based on several sustainability indicators, although this approach does not include a label or a certification. Blancas et al. (2015) discovered that the creation of a country’s own sustainability brand represents a powerful way to measure the degree of sustainable tourism and can be utilized as label for tourism sustainability. Through the continuous updating of the rankings, destinations are encouraged to

323 Cp. Austria Tourism 2012, p. 7 324 Cp. Biohotels 2018, n.p. 325 Cp. EarthCheck 2019a, n.p. 326 Cp. EarthCheck 2019b, n.p. 327 EarthCheck 2019a, n.p. 328 Cp. EarthCheck 2019a, n.p. 329 Cp. TourCert 2019a, n.p. 330 Cp. TourCert 2019b, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 63/127 adopt more sustainable management practices and foster cooperation and experiences by benchmarking with other countries.331

Another indicator-based approach is the well-being approach of the OECD, published with data for Austria in the document “Regions at a glance 2016”.332 In general, the underlying approach focusing on the well-being of individuals consists of different dimensions (for example, material living standards, personal activities and relationships, etc.) that should be considered jointly to evaluate and monitor the sustainable development of a country or region over time.333 It examines eleven topics covering indicators of the quality of life, such as environmental quality or safety, and indicators of material conditions, such as household income or jobs.334 Austria outperformed the OECD average for all indicators for measuring of well-being.335 Furthermore, Austria is in a leading position worldwide (8th rank by 2018) in terms of the so-called Environmental Performance Index, an indicator which measures the environmental performance of a country.336

Especially regarding sustainability in tourism and its holistic approach to planning and action, Austria is already well-equipped in some areas. According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2017, Austria reached the second rank worldwide in terms of environmental sustainability and absolute top positions in tourism service infrastructure. 337

4.6. Model Regions of Sustainable Tourism

Following the presentation of the prevailing standards and labels in the previous chapter, the following will discuss selected Austrian examples to illustrate how tourism sustainability is currently being implemented in practice. There is no universally valid model of sustainable development- oriented tourism design for the mass market that can be easily applied to any region as a conversion standard. Nevertheless, each individual example region stands out because it masters one or more sustainability aspects that challenge tourism.

4.6.1. Seeham, Salzburg Seeham, which describes itself as an organic village, applies biological and sustainable principles in all areas of life – school, culture, business, agriculture and tourism. Their main goal is to protect and preserve resources such as clear water, the air quality and fertile soil, both for their guests and for future generations. Seeham can call itself Austria’s first organic village, and it began to promote interest in regional organic products among locals and tourists more than fifteen years

331 Cp. Blancas et al. 2015, p. 40 332 Cp. OECD 2016b 333 Cp. Stiglitz et al. 2009, pp. 14 f 334 Cp. OECD 2016b, p. 20 335 Cp. OECD 2018, p. 1 336 Cp. Yale University 2019, n.p. 337 Cp. World Economic Forum 2017, pp. 88 f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 64/127 ago338. 80 percent of the farmers work biologically, energy is sourced from their own biomass cogeneration plant and locals can participate by selling products from their own garden at the organic shops. There are above average numbers of organic hotels and organic farms. The village represents a good example of how tourism can be strengthened for the regional value chain, as it is understood to be part of the overall economic development.339 In 2015, it was even awarded with the Austrian Climate Protection Prize in the category Municipalities & Regions.340

4.6.2. Pielachtal, Lower Austria Another best practice region is the Pielachtal. Located in Lower Austria, the tourism region Pielachtal consists of nine local communities. As a showcase region for sustainable tourism, it has already received various awards.341 In 2007, it was the first region in Austria to receive the EDEN Award as the best emerging rural area. Additionally, it was awarded with the Royal Sustainable Award (2nd rank), Leader Award (3rd rank) as well as the innovation award Leader+ (3rd rank).342 All travel experiences are based on sustainability, from natural landscape gardens, hiking and biking trails to regional products and the preservation of rural culture343. For example, for more than 100 years, the Mariazellerbahn has been using electricity from hydropower between St. Pölten and the pilgrimage town of Mariazell. The power supply comes from the capacity of two nearby power plants. This combination of public transport and regional, sustainable energy supply matches the needs of a modern, sustainable transport policy.344

Already in 2008, the Pielachtal was the second region in Austria to publish a sustainability report. It documents many initiatives of this region – from agriculture to tourism, from craft to business.345 A total of six tourist accommodations in the region have already received the Austrian Eco-label for Tourism.346

4.6.3. Kitzbühel, Tyrol In order to raise awareness of the significance of tourism in a region, it is often important to promote a sense of identity among the local population, and the prevailing customs and traditions create this identity. The resort of Kitzbühel, for example, focuses on the youth with targeted measures for a good image. Furthermore, free children’s ski lessons help inspire the local youth to go skiing more often. Through these actions, the public is encouraged to understand tourism.347 In addition, the tourism region Kitzbühel collaborates with surrounding tourism regions like

338 Cp. Tourismusverband Seeham 2018, n.p. 339 Cp. BMWFW n.d., p. 3 340 Cp. Tourismusverband Seeham 2018, n.p. 341 Cp. Mostviertler Tourismus GmbH 2018, n.p. 342 Cp. Regionalplanungsgemeinschaft Pielachtal 2008, p. 9 343 Cp. Austria Tourism 2012, p. 6 344 Cp. EVN AG 2016, n.p. 345 Cp. Mostviertler Tourismus GmbH 2018, n.p. 346 Cp. Regionalplanungsgemeinschaft Pielachtal 2008, p. 18 347 Cp. BMWFW n.d., p. 1 f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 65/127

Kufstein in certain LEADER-projects, for instance the project “Qualification Offensive Tourism 2017–2019”, which aims to deepen the professional and social competence of the staff of tourist offices.348

Furthermore, in the current winter season 2018/19, Bergbahnen Kitzbühel was testing new e- buses for the first time. An important step in mobility has already been made many years ago with normally operated ski buses, so much private traveling could already be saved. During a normal winter season, around 800,000 cable car guests use the ski bus service, which is offered in partnership with Postbus. More than 30 buses are in operation, covering a total of around 210,000 kilometres and frequenting the KitzSki feeder railways with almost 55 thousand arrivals and departures. The popular stop at the Hahnenkamm counts around 200 arrivals and departures per day349.

But this was not the first step towards sustainability. In 2009, Bergbahnen Kitzbühel invested in a GPS tracked snow management system. The entire ski area was measured with GPS, and these data were linked with the location data of the snow groomers. This way, snow can be evenly distributed along the snow slopes. The investment already paid off after the second year, and Bergbahnen Kitzbühel can save around seven percent of snow production in one season350. This investment can mainly be attributed to the economic dimension of sustainability.

4.6.4. Schmittenhöhe, Salzburg351 The Schmittenhöhe is an example of a ski region that has holistically implemented the concept of sustainability. This holiday region is the only EMAS-certified ski resort in Austria and was the winner of the competition “EMAS Award 2017” in the category of the best environmental statement. In addition, it received the seal of approval for workplace health promotion in 2018 and the “klimaaktiv-Partner” award by the Ministry of Life for the resource-saving operation of the slope rescue service with natural gas-powered skidoos.

The region is managed by the Schmittenhöhe AG, which consists of 27 lift and cable car facilities, boat trips on the Zeller See and several alpine huts and restaurants operated by the company. From an environmental perspective, the Schmittenhöhe AG sets actions to

- Reduce energy consumption, e.g. with resource-saving snow production through a continuous optimization of pumping stations and intelligent snow systems - Enhance the energy efficiency, e.g. through heat recovery in the ventilation systems of restaurants

348 Cp. Schwenter 2017, n.p. 349 Cp. “Testphase für E-Busse” 2018, n.p. 350 Cp. BMWFW n.d., p. 7 351 Cp. Schmittenhöhe AG 2018, p. 2 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 66/127

- Investments to produce their energy on their own, e.g. with photovoltaic panels at the lift stations.

For the summer season, an ecological slope management has been established. Initial studies by specialists in butterfly, locust and wild beekeeping on the slopes of the Schmittenhöhe revealed a remarkable biodiversity, with several species in danger of extinction. Due to sophisticated greening techniques and conservation-friendly management, for instance by using little to no fertilization and mowing only once per season, these slopes represent valuable habitats for protecting species and preserving biodiversity in this region.

4.6.5. Hinterstoder, Upper Austria and Pearls of the Alps As different as the regions are in terms of their attractions or tourism segments, they also differ in their topographical and geographical location. Whether a destination is central or peripheral has a direct impact on its accessibility. Peripheral locations, often associated with low settlement and population density, are often under-served by public transport.352 This is a challenge that the small community of Hinterstoder in Upper Austria also had to face. Hinterstoder was one of the first towns that founded a LAG. The first projects to be implemented in the LAG included a trails network for hiking and a Kneipp active route.353

Hinterstoder is located in a long valley and has up to 10,000 visitors per day. The valley bus, connecting the village center with the hiking trails and tuned to public transport, has been successfully financed for years with the income from parking space management.354 There are no additional costs for the guests driving with the valley bus as the parking ticket can be used as free bus ticket. The town is also a member of the cooperation “Pearls of the Alps” founded in 2006. In 2015355, this transnational initiative counted 27 communities situated in the Alpine region that have strict criteria for sustainable development, especially in the area of mobility. The aim of the initiative is to bundle the activities for smooth mobility in tourism in Austria, whereby there is also close cooperation with neighboring countries. Improvements in tourist traffic should also maximize the daily mobility of the local population.356 The Alpine Pearls network was financed to 50 percent by the EU, the rest of the funding came from member fees or accommodation operators that participated in this project. It represents the longest tourism initiative in the EU, which is why participating stakeholders can count on great expertise for developing innovative and sustainable solutions for tourism in the participating regions.357

352 Cp. BMWFW 2016, p. 6 353 Cp. OÖ Akademie für Umwelt und Natur 2009, p. 13 f. 354 Cp. BMWFW n.d., p. 6 355 Cp. Peeters et al. 2015, p. 105 356 Cp. BMNT 2011, p. 18 f 357 Cp. Peeters et al. 2015, p. 105 f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 67/127

5. Tourism in the Salzkammergut Region

5.1. An Introduction to the Salzkammergut

The region of the Salzkammergut is located at the northern edge of the Alps and administratively extends to the federal states of Salzburg, Upper Austria and Styria. The largest part of the region belongs to Upper Austria, covering 72 percent of the Salzkammergut, 16 percent (the entire region of the Ausseerland) relate to Styria and the smallest part belongs to the federal state of Salzburg. Administratively, the Upper Austrian Salzkammergut includes almost the entire district of Gmunden and the southern half of the district of Vöcklabruck, the Styrian Salzkammergut stretches across the judicial district of Bad Aussee in the district Liezen, and the eastern, mountainous part of the Salzkammergut belongs to the district Salzburg-Umgebung.358

Overall, 46 municipalities are part of the Salzkammergut Tourist Region and are allowed to use of the brand name “Salzkammergut”. These municipalities, in turn, can be divided into ten regions within the Salzkammergut359, as shown in the following figure:

1 - Fuschlsee 2 - Mondsee Land 3 - Wolfgangsee 4 - Attergau 5 - Attersee 6 - Bad Ischl 7 - Traunsee 8 - Almtal 9 - Dachstein Salzkammergut 10- Ausseerland Salzkammergut

Figure 14: The Region of the Salzkammergut Source: modified compilation based on Salzkammergut Tourism 2018a, n.p.

The term ‘Salzkammergut’ refers to a part of Austria that has developed a specific culture for centuries, characterized above all by mining and the trading of salt. Early on, the Inner

358 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019a, n.p. 359 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019a, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 68/127

Salzkammergut and the salt mine in Hallstatt attracted people who were looking for the essential resource of salt. Already in the 2nd millennium BC, there were traces of salt production at the Hallstatt salt mountain. As an important export good, salt brought prosperity to the region and led to extensive trade relations. The heyday of ancient mining was between 800 and 400 BC (Older Iron Age), which is known as the “Hallstatt period” because of the numerous finds in the town. Around the year 1800, the tourist development in Hallstatt began and the first travellers wrote guides about the “Austrian Switzerland”. But tourism truly began with the introduction of the railway, which made the area easily accessible. Since then, the Inner Salzkammergut has been a popular tourist destination.360

The history of tourism in Bad Ischl is also associated with salt, as the town has the first brine bath. In the middle of the 19th century, the Salzkammergut developed into a popular spa resort. Yet it also became popular due to the emergence of recreational awareness. Those who could afford it drove to places that had healing natural deposits. Brine baths had already been tested for health purposes in the early 19th century. When word spread, more and more guests came to the Salzkammergut, especially to Bad Ischl. The first spa was founded in 1823 and soon attracted prominent guests, including State Chancellor Metternich and the archduke couple Franz Karl and Sophie, parents of the later Emperor Franz Josef. Especially the Emperor made Bad Ischl famous with his summer residence. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest tourist resort in Upper Austria and the second largest in Austria. In 1913, Upper Austria became the most important tourist destination in Austria.361 In comparison to the individual federal states of Austria, the Salzkammergut is still one of the leading tourism destinations.362

Today, the Salzkammergut Region is officially managed as brand by the Salzkammergut Tourismus Marketing GmbH, founded in 2002. Under this holding organization, the ten regions form one of Austria’s biggest tourist regions. The main tasks of the organization are the general development of the destination, classical services of consulting the tourism associations of the ten regions as well as building the brand Salzkammergut and positioning it as an all-year destination. The Salzkammergut has become one of the leading drivers of domestic tourism in Austria363.

360 Cp. Kurz 2002, n.p. 361 Cp. König-Rosenzopf 2016, n.p. 362 Cp. Strugl et al. 2018 ,p. 12 363 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2018a, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 69/127

5.2. Tourism development and current state

5.2.1. Market Segments of the Salzkammergut

As has already been described in subchapter 4.1.3, the main market segments of the Austrian tourism sector can be categorized into seven specific segments. The region of the Salzkammergut offers a comprehensive range of services in each segment, and this chapter will highlight several of these services.

For city tourism, the historic towns of Bad Ischl and Gmunden are the main attractions of the region. In addition to numerous historic buildings such as the Imperial Villa in Bad Ischl or the Lake Castle Orth in Gmunden, which are open to tourists almost all year round, there are also a variety of cultural offers. At the traditional manufactory of the well-known ‘Gmundner Keramik’, a manufactory tour can be booked or this craft can even be learned as part of a ceramic painting course.364 In Bad Ischl, Emperor Franz Joseph I. is still omnipresent. In honor of the birthdays of its noble inhabitants, this small historic city offers a multitude of events. In every street, from all facades, windows and doors, a touch of monarchy wafts through the town and tourists can gain a perception of the history of the Habsburg family.365 Despite their rather small size, the towns in the Salzkammergut are popular among tourists, particularly because of their historical and cultural roots, with an attractive range of offers for the city tourism segment.

In addition to being able to enjoy a health and wellness holiday at spa hotels in the Salzkammergut, there are two thermal baths in the region: The “Narzissen Vital Resort” in Bad Aussee and the “Eurothermen Resort Bad Ischl”.366 As briefly mentioned in the previous subchapter, the spa in Bad Ischl has a 190-year history. It is part of the Eurothermen Group, which operates two other spas in the towns of Bad Schallerbach and Bad Hall, in addition to the location in Bad Ischl. According to leisure tourism statistics, Bad Ischl now occupies third place in Upper Austria. With the expansion of the Eurothermen Resorts, an attractive and weather-independent leisure offer in the Salzkammergut has been created, which also allows the hotels and guesthouses near the Eurothermen locations to offer their guests an appealing year-round product.367

The Salzkammergut region also offers a wide range of services in the areas of lake and alpine tourism. A total of 67 lakes are located in the region, which is why the Salzkammergut region is often referred to as the lakeside region of Upper Austria. Not only famous lakes like the Wolfgangsee or the Attersee characterize the Salzkammergut, also small, hidden lakes far away from the tourist masses like the Nussensee, which is only 20 hectares, impress with their

364 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019b, p. 6ff 365 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourismus-Marketing GmbH 2018, p. 21 366 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019b, p. 6ff 367 Cp. Pühringer 2015, p. 2ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 70/127 uniqueness.368 However, there are also various offers for mountain and hiking tourism. Exploring the landscape has become increasingly popular in recent years, especially by bike. The Mountain Bike Center Salzkammergut, a cooperation of companies in the region that is fully geared to the needs of mountain bike guests, has existed for several years now. Since 2012, the Mountain Bike Center has also been specially adapted to the needs of e-mountain bikers, to further extend their offer. The specialists at the Mountain Bike Center take their time and offer special technique training and guided tours for e-mountain bikers.369 There are also numerous other business cooperations. In the Fuschlsee region, 14 tourist accommodations work together to offer a comprehensive service for hikers. The accommodations are closely connected with the hiking guides and alpinists on site and provide guided hikes twice a week. They lend and organize hiking equipment, from the telescope stick to the drinking bottle. On request, they serve their own early bird breakfast and have plenty of room if the equipment needs to be stored, dried or properly cleaned. If needed, there is also a pharmacy or a return service for emergencies. In addition, the companies have also expanded their online services like downloadable GPS hiking routes. Aside from services on the Internet, digital information screens located directly on the hiking routes at vitally important points in the region also inform about the next tour, which can be transmitted directly to the tourist’s smartphone. At the same time, these screen stations enable direct contact with the tourist office – and the next accommodation.370

In the winter season, the Salzkammergut has a rich assortment for alpine tourism. There are 8 ski resorts in the region with more than 300 slope kilometres, suitable for experts but also for beginners, that are mainly equipped with snow-making guns. The Dachstein West ski area represents the biggest area.371

In addition to its ski slopes, the area of the Dachstein still belongs to another important market segment of the Salzkammergut. A core area of the Salzkammergut, with communities around the Dachstein, Hallstatt, Gosau, Obertraun, Bad Goisern and Bad Aussee, is included in the list of UNESCO’s cultural heritage because of its exceptional universal value as a historic cultural landscape of world importance. Based on the decision of the World Heritage Committee, “the Hallstatt – Dachstein / Salzkammergut alpine region is an outstanding example of a natural landscape of great beauty and scientific interest which also contains evidence of a fundamental human economic activity, the whole integrated in a harmonious and mutually beneficial manner”372.

368 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourismus-Marketing GmbH 2018, pp. 4 ff 369 Cp. Oberösterreich Tourismus Information 2013, p. 5 370 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourismus-Marketing GmbH 2018, pp. 42 f 371 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019c, n.p. 372 UNESCO World Heritage Centre 1998, p. 40 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 71/127

The Federal Monument Protection Act and the forest laws have long protected the cultural assets and the salt mine, while water laws protect the forests and the karst springs. The karst area of the Dachstein and the glaciers are protected areas. 60 percent of the World Heritage core area is protected as ‘Natura 2000” site.373 Thus, the region around “Hallstatt-Dachstein Salzkammergut” perfectly covers the market segment of protected area tourism.

Since December 1997, the region has been included in the World Heritage List as “Hallstatt- Dachstein Salzkammergut” by the World Heritage Committee374. According to the World Heritage Convention, a cultural heritage is an irreplaceable and priceless asset representing an outstanding universal value for humanity as a whole and meets specific and defined selection criteria.375 From the purpose of this convention,

“Outstanding Universal Value means cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity. As such, the permanent protection of this heritage is of the highest importance to the international community as a whole”.376

Due to their exceptional qualities, the Convention classifies monuments and groups representing an outstanding universal value from a historical, art or science point of view as well as sites representing an outstanding universal value from a historical, aesthetic, anthropological or ethnological point of view as cultural heritage.377

The UNESCO heritage landscape Hallstatt–Dachstein/Salzkammergut meets three points of the cultural UNESCO criteria that were crucial for its inclusion on the World Heritage list: 378

- Criterion II: The object illustrates an important exchange of human cultural values during a period of time or in a cultural area of the earth in the field of urban planning and landscaping. - Criterion III: The object represents a unique or at least an extraordinary testimony of a lost civilization or cultural tradition. - Criterion VI: The object is directly or identifiably linked to events, living traditions, ideas or creeds with artistic or literary works of extraordinary universal significance. In addition, the authenticity of the UNESCO object as well as the protection, care and administration must be ensured.

373 Cp. Austrian Commission for UNESCO 2007, p. 39 374 Cp. Jeschke 2006, p. 5 375 Cp. UNESCO World Heritage Centre 2012, p. 2 376 UNESCO World Heritage Centre 2012, p. 14 377 Cp. UNESCO World Heritage Centre 2012, p. 13 378 Cp. Jeschke 2006, p. 17 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 72/127

The prosperity due to the salt deposits in the region led to a fine architecture, which is reflected, for example, in the town of Hallstatt.379

In order to market the different market segments and make further offers of the region known to tourists, Salzkammergut tourism uses a widespread instrument: the Salzkammergut Card. Divided into a summer and winter card, tourists receive a discount of up to 25 percent on selected attractions or activities in the region.380 This discount card represents an excellent opportunity to present the highlights of the Salzkammergut to tourists in a concise form.

5.2.2. Economical Perspective and Statistical Facts The region has more than 2,700 accommodation providers and can look back on a successful balance in the tourism year 2017/2018 (November 2017 until October 2018): around 1.7 million arrivals and over 5 million overnight stays were recorded. The record level of 5 million overnight stays was achieved for the first time in 2016/2017. Currently, there is a further increase of 7.71 percent compared to the year before.381 The following figure highlights the positive trend of overnight stays and arrivals from 2002 to 2018.

Figure 15: Trend of overnight stays and arrivals in the Salzkammergut 2002-2018 Source: Salzkammergut Tourism 2019e, p. 16

For the average growth trend for Austria, as outlined in subchapter 4.1.1, the Salzkammergut was able to achieve a threefold increase in comparison to the rest of Austria. According to Michael Spechtenhauser, CEO of Salzkammergut Tourism Marketing GmbH, the accommodation

379 Cp. UNESCO World Heritage Centre 2019, n.p 380 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019d, n.p. 381 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019e, p. 2f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 73/127 providers are mainly family-run businesses, except for a few that are connected to international hotel chains.382 What is worth mentioning when talking about the increasing number of overnight stays, however, is that the occupancy rate of the existing accommodation providers has risen extremely in the last years. Thomas Ebner, Head of the Tourism Board of the Region of Mondsee- Irrsee, states that in the peak period of the 1980s and 1990s, their region counted around 8,000 guest beds and 400,000 overnight stays. Now, they can only offer around 3,000 beds and have 300,000 overnight stays. Thus, the capacity utilization of the individual accommodation providers has increased significantly. This is mainly connected to the fact that in former times more rooms were rented by private providers which have given up their accommodation provision nowadays.383

Related to the sub-regions of the Salzkammergut, the Ausseerland, Wolfgangsee and the Dachstein-Salzkammergut region have the largest share of overnight stays, whereby the smallest part is represented by the Almtal-Salzkammergut. Of course, this distribution can mainly be attributed to the size of the respective sub-region.

Proportion overnight stays per sub-region

Ausseerland Wolfgangsee Ferienregion Attersee Dachstein-Salzkammergut Fuschlsee Traunsee Mondsee Land Bad Ischl Attergau Almtal-Salzkammergut

Figure 16: Proportion of overnight stays per sub-region Source: own compilation based on Salzkammergut Tourism 2019e

Taking a look at the seasonal distribution of these values, the Salzkammergut does not follow the Austrian-wide trend. The biggest increase in overnight stays was not reached in the summer, but especially in the winter season, with a rate of around 10 percent. However, with an average duration of stay of 3.19 days384, the region is still below the national average of 4.4 days. Based on the individual sub-regions, only the Almtal managed an average stay slightly above the national average, with 4.49 days.385 Nevertheless, the seasonal utilization of the regions has smoothed out considerably in recent years. 20 years ago, for instance, the strongest season in the Traunsee-

382 Cp. Spechtenhauser 2019, r. 113f 383 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 190ff 384 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019e, p. 3 385 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019e, p. 5 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 74/127

Almtal region (with a proportion of around 80 percent of the recorded overnight stays) was during the summer high season from July to August. In the meantime, this trend has changed significantly. Andreas Murray, tourism director of the Traunsee-Almtal region, noted that the ratio of seasonal utilization nowadays amounts of around 60:40 (summer to winter season).386 This trend towards an improved seasonal distribution of guests is also recorded in other regions of the Salzkammergut, such as the region of Mondsee-Irrsee387 or the Fuschlsee.388

However, one region faced a setback in terms of overnight stays during the last winter season. As reported in the media, the ski resort Gaißau-Hintersee, located in the region of the Fuschlsee, was closed during the last winter season of 2018/2019. Since 2016, the Gaissauer Bergbahn GmbH is owned by the Chinese J & Y Holding Group Ltd. Due to a legal dispute between the mountain railways, the Österreichischen Bundesforste, which is one of the largest landowners in the ski area, and the Chinese owner, the nine lifts were not in use during this time. Already in January 2017, the mountain railways filed for insolvency after economically turbulent years, in order to hedge the business in the long term with debt relief. The reorganization plan was adopted by a majority, the creditors received a 30 percent quota at the time. The past winter season should have been economically satisfactory. Unfortunately, despite the very good snow conditions in the past season, no agreement was reached between the parties.389 Therefore, the Fuschlsee region was particularly affected by cancellations of overnight stays.390

Regarding the countries of origin of those visiting the Salzkammergut, most visitors who spend their holidays in this region are Austrians, followed by visitors from Germany and the Czech Republic. In the tourism year 2017/2018, a good growth was recorded in comparison to the previous year, whereby particularly the Czech Republic stands out with a plus of more than 20 percent of arrivals. When examining the top 15 countries of origin worldwide, only Italians (currently ranked position 13) and the French (currently ranked position 14) made less visits to the Salzkammergut.391

In summary, it can be concluded that the Salzkammergut has developed very successfully in recent years. This touristic success has been going on for several years, and it must be mentioned that a combination of several factors is responsible for this development. The holiday and leisure region Salzkammergut with its scenic and cultural diversity is very much in vogue, and numerous hotel projects have already been implemented or are in the planning stage.392 The expansion of tourism offers in the Salzkammergut continues to be one of the priorities of the tourism strategy.

386 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 180 f 387 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 195 ff 388 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 191 ff 389 Cp. “Investor lässt Skigebiet Gaißau-Hintersee warten“ 2019, n.p. 390 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 210 391 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019e, p. 11 392 Cp. Hillbrand 2019, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 75/127

For instance, in addition to previous investments by the OÖ Thermenholding in Bad Ischl, the Upper Austrian cable car holding company on the Feuerkogel, in the ski region Dachstein-West and on the Krippenstein, greatly invested in the region. As part of the construction of the Grünberg cable car in Gmunden, around 10 million euros were spent. In addition, there are numerous individual investment activities of tourism businesses in the Salzkammergut, such as the new hotel building of the ‘Dachstein king’ or the construction of the ‘COOEE alpine Hotel Dachstein’ in Gosau. Investing in tourism in the Salzkammergut naturally improves the quality of the offer enormously. This will provide important impulses for the entire region and create secure jobs for many people.393

Aside from investment activities, one major aspect of the economic development of the region is the high regional value added that is boosted by tourism. According to Michael Spechtenhauser, a great amount of the products offered in the regional gastronomy are from the region itself.394 Thomas Ebner also notes that the use of regional products in gastronomy is already working very well, which results in a better economic position of farmers and businesses in the region as well as shorter transport routes.395

The intensive cooperation of the individual tourism regions, which bundle their forces and jointly develop products, has also contributed to remaining competitive on the international market. The ‘Salzkammergut Advent’ and the ‘Salzkammergut BergeSeen Trail’ are prime examples of successful joint product development in recent years.396

5.2.3. Local Networks and Cooperations The successful development described in the previous subchapter is, among other things, based on numerous existing networks that are important for tourism in the Salzkammergut.

One major role can be assigned to the LEADER associations. Four of these cooperations have already been established in the Salzkammergut, whereby one sub-region (Ausseerland) is collaborating with a region outside of the Salzkammergut:

- REGIS – Association Regional Development of the Inner Salzkammergut - LEADER-Cooperation Traunsteinregion - FUMO – LEADER Region Fuschlsee-Mondseeland - REGATTA – Attersee-Attergau - LEADER Region Ennstal-Ausseerland

393 Cp, Strugl et al. 2018, p. 2 394 Cp. Spechtenhauser 2019, r. 17 395 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 105 f 396 Cp. Hillbrand 2019, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 76/127

The LAG cultural heritage Salzkammergut – Association Regional Development Inner Salzkammergut (REGIS) can look back on three successfully completed LEADER periods. The LEADER region consists of the 7 Upper Austrian municipalities Bad Ischl, Bad Goisern, Ebensee, Gosau, Hallstatt, Obertraun, St. Wolfgang and the two municipalities Strobl and St. Gilgen in Salzburg. This composition forms a geographical unit in the Inner Salzkammergut. A large number of LEADER projects in the region have led to a significant improvement in the quality of life and have become firmly established in the region. The new Local Development Strategy until 2020 should follow the successful development of the Salzkammergut Cultural Heritage region. For better structuring, a broad bottom-up process for the entire LEADER region was divided into four sub-regions, within which over 400 new project ideas were introduced.397 The uniqueness of this region is expressed in a variety of ways – through architecture, the specific cultivation of the landscape, the processing of land, and intangible cultural heritage such as music, customs, craft or life style. On the one hand, this forms the basis for high-quality heritage tourism, on the other, it expresses the unmistakable character and cultural diversity of the region of the Inner Salzkammergut. This cultural heritage is part of the livelihood of the population of the World Heritage region and has a high economic value. Each of the four parts relation to this region also has a special feature that can be used for the further profiling of the economic and touristic value added.398 In the Inner Salzkammergut region, the regional economic importance of the tourism industry is relatively high, and almost one sixth of the employees depend directly or indirectly on tourism. In individual communities, the relative importance of the tourism industry is far greater. In the past LEADER period, 83 projects could be implemented. Particular attention has been paid to the “Handwerkhaus Bad Goisern” and the construction of the local heating system in the holiday village Obertraun, to create and protect jobs in the region. In the agricultural sector, several larger projects to safeguard the pasture management could be implemented. Projects such as “Farm holidays” and “School on the farm” have made a significant contribution to securing income in agricultural holdings.399

The LAG Traunsteinregion is located in the northeastern part of the Salzkammergut, in the political district of Gmunden. The municipalities of the Traunsteinregion are part of the Salzkammergut and most of them can be characterized as rural and touristic rural areas. The northern communities of the LAG are also located in the vicinity of trans-regional traffic axes (connection to the Upper Austrian central area). The Traunsteinregion includes communities of the Traunsee (Traunkirchen, Altmünster, Gmunden), of the Almtal (Grünau, St. Konrad, Scharnstein) and municipalities in the north of the district (Gschwandt, Kirchham, Vorchdorf, Roitham). The uniqueness of the landscape of this region has great tourist potential that has not been sufficiently exploited so far. Earlier glories of the so called “summer freshness” are long gone. The industry suffers from a decline in

397 Cp. REGIS 2017, pp. 5 f 398 Cp. Luger n.d., p. 31 399 Cp. REGIS 2017, p. 10 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 77/127 overnight stays and a lack of bed occupancy, especially when there is bad weather and in winter. This has partially resulted in closures, a lack of investment activity and a willingness for quality improvement. The region must become aware of the opportunities that tourism offers for the future of the region and make appropriate investments in infrastructure and innovative supply developments. Therefore, the area of tourism is one of the focal points of the LEADER- Cooperation Traunsteinregion.400

The local action group Fuschlsee-Mondsee (LAG) ‘FUMO’ is a transboundary region with a total of 17 municipalities – 10 municipalities in the province of Salzburg (two of them former Tennengau LAG - Adnet and Krispl - and all 8 municipalities of the Fuschlsee region) and 7 municipalities on the Upper Austrian side (REGMO Mondseeland without the municipality Unterach). Both regions have been active as LEADER local action groups. The regional development Mondseeland (REGMO) was founded in October 1995, to implement the LEADER program of the EU in the Mondseeland region. This makes REGMO one of the five oldest LEADER regions in Upper Austria. Today, the smallest LEADER region in Upper Austria has a remarkable record and looks back on 146 successful projects after 19 years of LEADER work, 49 projects of which were implemented in the period 2007–2013 in the fields of agriculture, tourism, trade and local supply, culture, village development, energy, nature conservation, labor and social affairs. Since 2007, over EUR 2 million of approved funding and project costs of more than EUR 5.5 million have flowed into the region. The LEADER program period 2007–2013 was the first for the 8 municipalities of LAG Fuschlseeregion. The first funding period was called ‘Region in motion’, with aims on different levels such as family, culture and social, tourism, economy, energy, alpine and agricultural and mobilization. In the framework of LEADER 2014–2020, the two sub-regions REGMO and Fuschlseeregion were merged to achieve a targeted, integrated and sustainable regional development with the best possible use of the resources of the municipalities.401

The LEADER region REGATTA counts 12 municipalities of the region Attersee-Attergau. For the funding period 2014 to 2020, the REGATTA has around EUR 2.1 million in funding.402 Since July 2015, REGATTA has supported 41 projects with a total investment of EUR 2.8 million. The investments and subsidies benefit domestic companies and domestic jobs, and they increase the value added of the region, as the newly created infrastructures improve the offer for locals and guests. The variety of projects, the cooperation and the benefits for the region are remarkable. Two thirds of the REGATTA projects can be described as cooperation projects of municipalities, tourism associations and actors of the Attersee-Attergau region. Funding projects are mainly in the areas of culture, tourism, leisure infrastructure, and local development, and are also used for

400 Cp. Verein zur regionalen Entwicklung Gmunden Traunsteinregion 2017, pp. 5 ff 401 Cp. LAG FUMO n.d., pp. 4 ff 402 Cp. REGATTA 2019a, p. 2 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 78/127 the preparation and documentation of regional knowledge.403 According to Leo Gander, CEO of the REGATTA, the biggest priorities that the REGATTA is pushing are cultural tourism and high- quality excursion tourism. Some of these unique cultural projects are connected to famous people like Gustav Klimt or Gustav Mahler that had close connections to the region of the Attersee. He estimates that about 50 percent of the LEADER development projects in their region are directly or indirectly related to tourism.404

In relation to the projects, the position of the tourism associations, their tourist boards as well as the Salzkammergut Tourism Marketing GmbH can mainly be described as networkers. As Michael Spechtenhauser states, tourism industry institutions can only be seen as motivators, moderators or networkers. When huge tourism projects should be addressed e.g. in the field of mobility, each region or municipality is just too small or has not enough (financial) power to set up projects on its own. This does not belong to the responsibilities of a tourism association alone. He notes that specific aspects or problems have to be pointed out by the tourism industry, so that people can come together and think about possible options and solutions.405 This collaboration already works well, as in the case of the REGATTA. The LEADER program is well anchored in the region and the municipalities are already setting the tone for the most important topics. As a region is constantly in motion, people who are already involved in such projects believe that everything is interdependent, that if there is a new project somewhere, positive side effects like jobs or economic development go along with it. The knowledge and thought processes of people who are involved in have become much better in recent years.406

Nevertheless, Thomas Ebner points out that, regarding the environmental dimension, tourism professionals urgently need to catch up in order to understand the relationship of tourism and its ecological effects. In his opinion, this still represents an area – in the sense of sustainability – that has not yet reached all the minds of tourism experts.407

5.3. Sustainability trends and challenges

The concept of sustainable tourism is becoming steadily more a topic of interest in the daily business and minds of tourism experts and is increasingly becoming the focus of attention408. Thereby, paying attention to the aspects of the economy, the social and the cultural in the planning of tourism projects plays a major role. Above all, the integration of these projects into social

403 Cp. REGATTA 2019b, n.p. 404 Cp. Gander 2019, r. 26 ff 405 Cp. Spechtenhauser 2019, r. 59 ff 406 Cp. Gander 2019, r. 112 ff 407 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 397 ff 408 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 8 f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 79/127 structures is perhaps the most crucial aspect in this regard.409 On one hand, tourism associations have to ensure that their region has attractive offers and market them properly, on the other, the importance of preserving nature and its conditions prevails in the respective region. Therefore, for the Salzkammergut, sustainability starts with keeping nature intact.410

In the course of this chapter, the details of the main trends and challenges in the Salzkammergut and how they relate to the dimensions of sustainability will be discussed in detail.

5.3.1. Mobility Mobility will probably be the biggest challenge for the Salzkammergut in the upcoming years. However, this topic must be considered both by the local population and from the point of view of mobility in tourism.

Many workers have to use a shuttle to get to their workplaces due to local job shortages. Approximately 60 percent of the local working population remain within the political district. With an average of 45 minutes, locals are able to reach their workplace if cars are their main means of transport. The Inner Salzkammergut is a classic commuter region, only Hallstatt and Bad Ischl have a positive commuter balance. With few major companies, the Salzkammergut represents one of the regions of Europe with low job offers. The effects of restructuring and plant closures are particularly noticeable here. There are no alternatives and currently no industries that could cushion massive job losses. Women’s jobs are rare and youth unemployment has been a serious problem for a long time.411 The tourism sector offers a wide variety of job opportunities, but the labor market in this sector still has the cliché of the poorly paid worker412 as well as the specific working conditions mentioned within subchapter 4.2.

Additionally, there is an urgent need to manage the aspect of mobility in terms of sustainability in the entire Salzkammergut region.413 For instance, Leo Gander describes the mobility and traffic situation within the REGATTA region as the biggest challenge. As the Attersee is a destination of bathing tourism, up to 100,000 people visit the lake on beautiful summer days, and most of them arrive with their own car. This development in the last decades is very difficult to correct, even if there have already been different attempts. It did not help that the public transport offer expanded or that parking fees were charged. The massive traffic on beautiful summer days represents a huge problem, especially among the locals, the companies or among the working population of the region, but it also has a negative impact on tourism.414 The main problem noted by Christian Andriska is that the regions in the Salzkammergut are simply too decentralized compared to the

409 Cp. Gander 2019, r. 7 ff 410 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 21 ff 411 Cp. REGIS 2017, pp. 8 f 412 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 45 413 Cp. Spechtenhauser 2019, r. 24 414 Cp. Gander 2019, r. 55 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 80/127 size of the entire area. There is no real center, the region is huge, and the visitors and locals are just too few to ensure effective, sustainable mobility. There have been attempts to provide additional offers like free buses paid by the tourism office in the winter season for cross-country skiers, but this is rather a service than a sustainable mobility solution.415

A similar approach already exists in the region of Traunsee-Almtal. It has faced an increase in individual transport in the last 30 years; around 95 percent of guests arrive with their own car. Even if a direct railway line almost goes right through the middle of the region (the route from Attnang-Puchheim via Gmunden to Stainach Irdning), the region has hardly any cross traffic. There are only a couple of bus connections that are not frequented often. In order to address the problem of mobility, the Salzkammergut needs new connections, so that the entire region is networked, and a micro-public transport system to cover the last mile. A few years ago, the Traunsee region successfully established a call collection taxi. Starting with the small network around the Traunsee, the project has proven to be very successful and is planned to be further extended to the Almsee and Laakirchen, including a total of 19 communities in this network. This taxi is mainly intended for connections that were previously not accessible by public transport. One classical example in this region is Almsee. There is already a train connection to Grünau, but it is impossible to drive further to the Almsee via public transport at present.416 Thomas Ebner claims that, in order to do something sustainable in the Salzkammergut, a tourism association is certainly a bit too small. Except for the city of Salzburg, other destinations are difficult to reach from the Mondsee-Irrsee region.417 Even if a mobility concept does not represent a core mission of a tourism association or manager, the resulting challenges also have to be faced by the tourism sector.418

A recent trend that has positively affected tourism is an increased use of e-bikes. As already mentioned in subchapter 5.2.1, the Salzkammergut has adapted its Mountain Bike Center specifically to the needs of e-bike users. There are more than 20 e-bike routes throughout the entire region. From simple family routes to challenging mountain trails, the cycle routes in the Salzkammergut are well developed. The 345-kilometer-long Salzkammergut Cycle Course, for instance, leads from St. Wolfgang via Bad Ischl, Bad Goisern to the idyllic UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hallstatt and to Obertraun. The return journey towards the Wolfgangsee can be started via the Traunsee, the Attersee and the Mondsee.419 Representatives of the Salzkammergut are currently working on a new e-mountain bike trail that makes it possible to explore the entire region by bike. This new route is particularly important in terms of visitor guidance. The route is

415 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 321 ff 416 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 84 ff 417 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 260 ff 418 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 93 f 419 Cp. Österreich Werbung 2019, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 81/127 planned so that the usual routes are avoided, which results in an improvement of the traffic around the lakes.420

5.3.2. Climate Change Last summer was often referred to as a record summer in the media. The following winter, parts of the Salzkammergut were literally buried in snow. Thus, the extreme weather conditions resulting from climate change were also noticeable in the Salzkammergut, which had both a positive and a negative impact on the region and its tourism sector.

First of all, the effects of the temperature increase need to be considered. Glaciers are sensitive indicators of climate change. The Dachstein Mountains at the southern edge of Upper Austria is the only glacier area in Upper Austria. It is also the easternmost glacier area of Austria and the Alps and partly belongs to the Salzkammergut. The total area of all Dachstein glaciers has been reduced from 11.23 km² in 1850 to 5.02 km² in 2014. The largest glacier in terms of its area is the Hallstätter Glacier with 2.83 km², the second largest, the Gosau Glacier, reaches a size of 1.1 km². Long-term measurements of temperature and precipitation in this areas show a warming or a slight increase in precipitation. This increase in temperature corresponds approximately to the trends measured in other regions of the Alpine region for a comparable climate region (northern side of the Alps).421 Based on the current mass balances of the Hallstätter Glacier, the reduction continued in the years 2014 to 2018 as well.422As a result of the decline in glaciers and the rise in temperature, a sustainable maintenance of the ski areas, such as the Dachstein-West ski area, cannot be guaranteed without a greater use of resources through cropping systems. Therefore, the winter sport market segment is one of the losers in terms of climate change.

However, some market segments also benefit from increasing temperatures. Especially last summer, with its long warm weather periods and little rain, led to strong results in the tourism industry in the Traunsee-Almtal region, for instance423. According to Thomas Ebner, a great advantage of the Salzkammergut is that the climate is more balanced than in the south like e.g. the Adriatic. Beach vacations at the Adria or in Egypt are becoming more unattractive, as global warming has led to temperatures that are no longer endurable. Furthermore, the water resources and reserves in the region of the Salzkammergut can currently be seen as ensured in the long term.424 Nevertheless, certain risks arise in the summer months due to rising temperatures.

The extremely hot and dry summer has left its mark on the lakes of the Salzkammergut. By the end of summer 2018, the lake Attersee had a water level that was 33 centimeters lower than the long-term average. Thus, the largest lake in Upper Austria lacked around 15 billion liters of water,

420 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 129 ff 421 Cp. CLAIRISA n.d., pp. 9 ff 422 Cp. Blue Sky Wetteranalysen 2019, n.p. 423 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 281 f 424 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 364 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 82/127 according to the Austrian hydrographic service. This also affected shipping traffic. For example, wheelchair drivers could not be taken on board because the slope was simply too steep at the entry ramps, due to the low water level of the lake. Structural measures have already been taken to maintain the driving operation. At the end of the summer, there was even the threat of operational restrictions, as not all the bridges could be steered onwards. The Wolfgangsee was affected as strongly as the Attersee. The third largest lake in Upper Austria had a level that was 31 centimeters lower level than in the long-term average. Furthermore, the two largest and most important water suppliers of the Wolfgangsee, the Zinkenbach and the Dittlbach, were completely dried up in 2018. In the meantime, the lake has to be dredged every five years in order to be able to continue the shipping business.425 Thomas Ebner also mentioned the low water levels of the Mondsee after the record summer 2018 as risk. According to the limnological institute for freshwater and lake science of the University of Innsbruck, the water reserves of a normal alpine lake are exchanged twice a year. In the Mondsee, the water exchange took place just once a year i.e. it has already massive changes in the lake ecosystem. Low water levels like the ones recorded last year are exacerbating this situation, and there is an increasing risk that the lake will tip over. This would lead to a boom in blue-green algae and endanger the overall fish population. Aside from the negative effects on the ecosystem of the lake, tourism would also be massively affected. Due to health reasons, a general ban on swimming in the lake would have to be pronounced, and one of the main sources of tourism would be lost from one day to the next.426

Local ski companies often complained about a lack of natural snow, but the winter season 2018/2019 led to a new challenge for the tourism industry. Due to the precarious weather situation, some ski areas in the Salzkammergut had to be completely closed and were confronted with sales losses. At the beginning of 2019, the Feuerkogel cable car was in operation, but because of the strong wind, the lifts were closed. On the Krippenstein, on some days, all slopes were closed due to the high avalanche danger, e.g. at the Kasberg. But because the Salzkammergut federal road was also blocked, there were hardly any day visitors.427 At present, it is impossible to determine the economic losses caused by these record-breaking snowfalls. However, it is very unlikely that the losses of the tourism industry can be compensated by a prolonged winter season.

5.3.1. Secondary Residences The dynamic expansion of second home residences has played an essential role in the development of many Alpine communities in recent decades.428 The small town of Bad Aussee,

425 Cp. Laglstorfer 2018, n.p. 426 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 374 ff 427 Cp. Brandner 2019a, n.p. 428 Cp. König 2017, p. 1 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 83/127 for example, has a second home rate of around 34 percent, which means that every third inhabitant only spends a few days of the year in Bad Aussee.429

On the one hand, the building of second homes can be a major source of economic value added, especially in tourist destinations that are mostly visited seasonally.430 This brings additional value to a region and creates jobs in the design and construction phase, binds second homeowners to the destination, generates an additional demand that generates significant revenues, and has positive wealth effects for local landowners due to increased land and property prices.431 On the other hand, a lack of guidance and a non-regulation of this sector can have negative economic, social and environmental impacts.432 These would be, for example, a large space requirement, land price increases, low employment (after the construction phase) or peak loads due to high infrastructure expenditures.433 In the Alpine region, the resulting problems have been known for decades, whereby particularly the attractiveness of tourist destinations plays a role in this context. The more popular a holiday destination is for tourists, the more interesting it becomes for those who want to acquire a leisure residence. This is done during different life phases and for different purposes, e.g. buying property as a secure investment to get a return on the tourist rental of the property.434

In this regard, Andreas Murray mentioned Gmunden as an example of an expensive place. Second residencies drive up the property prices, and if many rich people who can afford these prices buy apartments, less will be left for the locals.435 Leo Gander also claims that it is certainly worth observing the enormous pressure on recreational residencies in relation to their construction activity around the Attersee.436 The problem, however, is that all the infrastructures, such as roads, energy supply or even schools, have to be designed so that, in addition to locals and hotel guests, all second home owners will always have enough roads and parking facilities, even if they only stay in the region for a few days every year. Aside from all of this effort, second homes do not bring a sustainable value added for a regional economy in the long run. However, Thomas Ebner does not see the big issue regarding secondary residences. The Mondsee region has been a restricted area for secondary residences for many years. The reason why the scarce living space in the region is becoming increasingly unaffordable is its associated proximity to high-quality jobs, e.g. in the city of Salzburg. All the large, which, of course, pay a corresponding salary to their middle or top management, are greatly increasing the property prices in the surrounding area.437

429 Cp. Köberl 2019, n.p. 430 Cp. König 2017, p. 1 431 Cp. Bandi 2017, p. 21 432 Cp. König 2017, p. 1 433 Cp. Bandi 2017, p. 21 434 Cp. König 2017, p. 1 435 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 254 ff 436 Cp. Gander 2019, r. 76 f 437 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 315 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 84/127

Nevertheless, Christian Andriska notes that this problem is partly caused by the locals themselves. Even if the Fuschlsee region does not have as many second homes in their region, locals have sold properties to the highest bidders. Therefore, this development is based on the natural market equilibrium of supply and demand. If locals complain about too many secondary residences, they should not sell every free construction cell to foreign ones.438

Andreas Murray sees a certain possibility to counteract secondary residences especially in the responsibility of the municipalities.439 In 2018, the Upper Austrian Tourism Act agreed that the municipalities are able to charge a recreational residence tax, but, according to Thomas Ebner, this tax has always been there, just in a different form. It is now called ‘recreational residence tax’ and was formerly known as ‘apartment tax’. This tax was based on the amount of the local tax and was collected by the municipalities and passed on to the local tourist boards less a 5 percent levy. With the new Upper Austrian Tourism Act 2018, the municipalities were given the opportunity to charge a fee additionally to the recreational residence tax, which is an actual tax for the municipality. Now, there is a recreational residence tax that is connected to the local tax. It represents the supplement to the recreational residence tax that the community can collect, which then belongs in the responsible local community.440 According to Christian Andriska, the real challenge of a tax like this is that no fee of a municipality can be effective against second home owners, because those who can afford a house by the lake can also afford this minimum fee.441

5.3.2. Mass tourism As the statistical facts show, the Salzkammergut has recorded an impressive growth in overnight stays in recent years. This raises the question whether one could already speak of a kind of mass tourism at some peak times.

Experts agree that the Salzkammergut has not yet experienced a kind of mass tourism. Andreas Andriska states that the Getreidegasse in Salzburg could represent an example of mass tourism in the middle of August. However, he still sees this with caution. It always depends on how much tourism or tourists a region endures. Even in the summer, the Fuschlsee region is still far away from it.442

Thomas Ebner makes a differentiation between mass tourism and over tourism. For him, over tourism is when locals suffer. This is not the case in the Mondsee-Irrsee region, even if some people often claim that the “Sound of Music” tourist busses come close to over tourism. In the high season, which is in July and August, around 3,200 beds plus camping guests are available in the Mondsee-Irrsee region, and they are fully booked during this time. Therefore, a larger capacity

438 Cp. Andriska 2017, r. 362 ff 439 Cp. Murray 2017, r. 258. 440 Cp. Ebner 2017, r. 302 ff 441 Cp. Andriska 2017, r. 380 ff 442 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 261 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 85/127 utilization by tourists is not even possible. What is a bigger problem in this region are guests who go on day trips. If around 5,000 people, day guests and those who stay overnight, visit the alpine seaside resort in Mondsee, it is far away from sustainable tourism. These people go bathing with sun cream on their bodies, which leads to water pollution and resource consumption. Especially day guest come by car and need a parking space. The only way to work sustainable in this case is that gastronomy can try to obtain their products from the region as far as possible at peak times. If one assumes that around 30,000 people stay in the area around both lakes in the summertime (Mondsee and Irrsee), this is simply too much.443 Andreas Murray also agrees that – even on peak days – the Salzkammergut is far away from mass tourism, even in Hallstatt, which attracts especially Asian tourists.444

The approximately 800 inhabitants of Hallstatt are faced with a million of tourists each year.445 One fifth of them are Chinese tourists who booked overnight stays.446 In high season, an estimated 7,000 visitors come to the town every day. The local population complains about garbage, noise and unauthorized drone flights. A few years ago, the small town was in danger of being incorporated to a neighbouring municipality. Today, Hallstatt generates around EUR 4.4 million with a surplus of about EUR 160,000. Interestingly, EUR 150,000 of this surplus is generated by earnings through public toilets. One reason for the reputation of Hallstatt in the Far East is a replica of the village in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The mirrored duplicate opened in 2012 and cost around USD 900 million. The Far Eastern TV program also contributes to the popularity of the place. For instance, the Korean soap opera ‘Spring Waltz’ is filmed in Hallstatt and Vienna. Another reason is that various websites consider Hallstatt to be one of the most beautiful small towns in Europe.447 The situation has become even more acute in recent years, and the small town is reacting against it.

In 2010, 3,440 buses with day visitors were counted in Hallstatt; in the previous year, there were already 19,344. The number of annual visitors is now around one million, and on some days, up to 10,000 guests crowd the narrow town and its streets.448 Through a civic participation process, the first action package was developed. It consists of stricter controls and access barriers. In addition, a multilingual “Hallstatt App” should help guide tourists. What is still unclear is how tourist car traffic can be curbed. Although there is an electronic display system that informs drivers outside Hallstatt in advance whether parking space is available, many guests ignore this and park

443 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 209 ff 444 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 227 f 445 „Idyllisches Bergdorf wird von chinesischen Touristen überrannt – der Grund ist absurd” 2019, n.p. 446 Cp. Statistik Austria 2019, n.p 447 „Idyllisches Bergdorf wird von chinesischen Touristen überrannt – der Grund ist absurd” 2019, n.p. 448 Cp. Brandner 2019b, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 86/127 somewhere on the roadside.449 It remains unclear whether this action will bring relief to the small community.

Due to its beautiful nature and the mountains in the Salzkammergut, tourists have increasingly become interested in hiking in recent years. Andreas Murray says that, on some days, the visitor flows on some mountains resemble a migration. Therefore, the Traunsee-Almtal region purpose is to slightly steer guests away from the classical hot spots. In the Salzkammergut, there are other areas with beautiful trails, but hardly anyone visits them. River walking along the Traun or the Alm are just two examples he mentions.450 This visitor guidance is certainly a challenge, but also a chance for tourists to continue to enjoy the feeling of nature, untouched landscape and the idyll the Salzkammergut is known for. A further expansion of the regional tourism sector is therefore only possible if tourists are channelled to certain points and attractions that are currently less frequented. These must be actively promoted by tourism organizations.451

As this example shows, as important as tourism is for the economic development of a region, it can also disturb the local citizens. The situation is not as extreme in the other tourism regions of the Salzkammergut. Even if Thomas Ebner says that on some peak days in the year, the locals of the Mondsee-Irrsee region also suffer under too much tourism, most of them benefit from tourism. On the one hand, because the tourism industry is an important employer for the local population, on the other, because locals can also use the recreational opportunities and activities a tourism region creates and has to offer. To be able to offer this leisure time structure in a region, you need tourism.452 This is also in line with Andreas Murray’s opinion, since he believes the quality of life to be much higher in a tourist region than anywhere else.453 As far as the local population is concerned, Christian Andriska notes that it is partly responsible for overcrowded bathing spots or tours. The Fuschlsee region has tracked the postal codes of visitors of the Fuschlsee bath, and it was discovered that around 90 percent of the visitors who use the parking spaces are locals. Therefore, it can hardly be claimed that the hotspots of these regions are overrun by tourists.454

5.3.3. Seasonal Expansion A possible solution to counteract peak times and overcrowded tourist destinations is a better distribution of visitors within a region. If a further increase in the number of visitors in a region is desired, as in the case of the Fuschlsee region455, only a certain seasonal expansion outside of the peak time or a specific visitor guidance enable a further expansion of the tourism value of a

449 Cp. Brandner 2019b, n.p. 450 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 211 ff 451 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 89 452 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 247 ff 453 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 240 f 454 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 209 ff 455 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 77 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 87/127 region. In recent years, several regions of the Salzkammergut have achieved first successes in this regard.

According to Andreas Murray, the Traunsee-Almtal region has already become an all-year destination. As mentioned before, 20 years ago, tourism mostly took place during the summertime. The season started with 1 May and July and August were booked-out. Nowadays, the high season has already extended to the pre- and post-season, from spring until autumn. In the winter season, especially custom events and advent time further drive the number of overnight stays. Thus, all offers promoted by the tourism associations focus on times where there is still enough capacity in the region. The Traunsee-Almtal region tries to guide guests with information and programs, so that the absolute season peaks are equalized.456 However, these visitor reductions do not only apply to the seasonal occupancy, but also to the places or excursion destinations advertised by the tourism associations.

Thomas Ebner mentions another aspect of seasonal distribution. In currently weaker months like January, March or November, the Mondsee-Irrsee region recorded a large increase of business tourism in the past years. As these months are not marked by enough attractiveness, this region actively tries to focus on this market segment.457 The Salzkammergut is not only blessed with its incomparable natural resources and landscape but also has an interesting and perhaps exemplary cultural history. Therefore, the preservation, care and development of cultural heritage represents one of the central subjects to further expand seasonal distribution in a sustainable way.458 Other attractions like an amusement park would not work in the Salzkammergut, because the region has a completely different image and repertoire. It works with naturally given things, and, according to Andreas Murray, the Traunsee-Almtal region focuses on things that are authentic.459 Another example of the seasonal extension possibilities in the Fuschlsee region is the Josef Mohr memorial path. The librettist of the famous Christmas song “Silent Night, Holy Night” wrote this song in Hintersee. This has brought the region more attention, and especially elderly people, who are able and willing to travel e.g. in November, use such offers.460

5.3.1. Digitalization As noted in subchapter 2.1.2, digitalization has already arrived in the tourism sector, a trend that is actively counteracted in the Salzkammergut. In addition to the customer side, which increasingly uses these new possibilities, different providers in the tourism sector must be able to deal with new media properly.

456 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 182 ff 457 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 200 ff 458 Cp. Gander 2019, r. 17 ff 459 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 31 ff 460 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 226 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 88/127

Today, 42 percent of travellers use the Internet to look for their next travel destination; for younger people even higher values are counted. In 2016, the Dachstein Salzkammergut tourist region recorded a share of around 70 percent of digital bookings via booking platforms or e-mail. Due to internationally known destinations and search terms such as Hallstatt and the boom during short breaks in the world heritage sites of Bad Goisern, Gosau and Obertraun, this trend is rising. Since November 2017, an exclusive new online service is online in the Dachstein Salzkammergut tourism region. As one of the first local tourism associations, the region provides a digital training platform for accommodation providers and tourism partners free of charge. The training modules of the academy deal with the most interesting topics for the tourism industry. These modules cover how accommodation providers should deal with social media, an essential channel for the industry, as well as present explanatory videos of the booking system or how to handle cancellations. The platform was developed in cooperation with Tourismuszukunft. It works with user-friendly videos, step-by-step information and offers tests and vouchers. After a one-time registration, the user sees his current learning status and gets hints on interesting or new content.461

In addition to an increased digitalization in the area of accommodation, there is also a further expansion of digital media relating to tourism associations and their offerings. As Thomas Ebner notes, in the region Mondsee-Irrsee they are working on a project that tries to combine nature with smartphones.462 Andreas Murray also states that they are increasingly using online platforms and other digital media in the Traunsee-Almtal region. Young people virtually use online platforms and other digital media all the time, and even older generations are not afraid to use it anymore.463 This change in customer behavior has positive side effects. By using digital media to search for information, there is a decreasing demand for tourist brochures and other publicity material, which means that less resources such as paper are wasted.

The region of the Fuschlsee also uses new info screens in front of the tourism office to provide visitors with a more resource-efficient and modern alternative to classical tourist brochures. The requested information can be scanned via QR-codes and tourists can transfer the brochure to their mobile phone. Tourists would need the information anyway, but with the new info screens, they can get it in a more sustainable way.464

The digitalization of the past years also brings new challenges for the entire region. Most tourists visiting the Salzkammergut are from Austria itself of neighboring countries like Germany or the Netherlands.465 Due to online providers such as booking.com, the tourists’ holiday decisions are

461 Cp. Binder 2017, n.p. 462 Cp. Ebner 2019, r. 141 f 463 Cp. Murray 2019, r. 113 ff 464 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 169 ff 465 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2019e, p. 11 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 89/127 much more short-term and weather-dependent than before. If they want to go on holiday and the weather forecasts predicts bad weather on the respective weekend, people can book a trip to Dubai or New York within a few online clicks. Therefore, the Salzkammergut and other traditional tourist destinations are in global competition with the whole world.466

5.4. Comparison of the Salzkammergut with model regions in the EU and Austria

As already mentioned in subchapters 3.3 regarding model regions at the EU level, but also in subchapter 4.6. at the state level of Austria, there are already selected flagship regions in terms of sustainable tourism. In the course of this chapter, the approaches of these model regions and their starting points for the Salzkammergut will be highlighted.

The protected natural areas in Spain and the hotel chain Paradores are an outstanding example of how tourism in the immediate vicinity of nature reserves can be implemented and continuously expanded in a sustainable way. Even if the Salzkammergut has a different company structure that is mainly based on privately owned, family-run businesses, there are individual cases of hotels that have anchored the concept of sustainability in their corporate philosophy. Surrounded by the intact nature of the Salzkammergut, the hotel Weisses Rössl is located at the Wolfgangsee. Sustainability in tourism is a topic that is always considered and explicitly advertised at the hotel. To ensure that the unique nature of the holiday is maintained for future generations, the owners commit themselves to sustainability in all areas. For example, the food used in the kitchen is mainly from regional, rural production. Furthermore, most employees are from the immediate area. Thus, the Weisses Rössl is an important economic part of the Wolfgangsee that consciously promotes regionality and sustainability.467 For the example of Seeham mentioned in the section 4.6, there is also a comparative example in the Salzkammergut. The bioenergy village Landgut Danzermühle in Pettenbach (Almtal), with a total area of approx. 50,000 m², offers ideal living conditions and is an ideal starting point for Almtal tourists. The barrier-free apartments and houses are located in a scenic, quiet residential area without thoroughfares, which is a prime example of a future-oriented residential structure with high quality of life. As a sustainable bioenergy village, the goal of energy procurement for heat and electricity is a substantial self-sufficiency with regenerative energy. This creates an exemplary sustainable livelihood, which is supported by the most modern techniques.468 Preslmair notes that many companies located in the Salzkammergut already had

466 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 197 ff 467 Cp. Weisses Rössl 2019, n.p. 468 Cp. Landgut Danzermühle 2019, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 90/127 environmental certifications like EMAS or the Austrian Eco-label but did not continue to use this certification in recent years.469

A good example which the Salzkammergut can certainly compete with regarding seasonal peaks or the low season is the destination of South West Wales in England. The local cooperation of tourism stakeholders achieved a better seasonal utilization through their collaborations, especially at a local level. As the interviews with experts indicated and subchapter 5.3 illustrated, there is an extensive local cooperation in the Salzkammergut in the form of the LEADER groups, for instance, which make it possible to better utilize the Salzkammergut in the low season, thanks to cultural priorities.

However, solutions for certain aspects of sustainability are still pending for the Salzkammergut. Just as in the case of the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, the local population of the Salzkammergut also has to face high property prices due to the high demand of second homes. This was also mentioned as challenge by some tourism experts of the Salzkammergut. Even if the Cairngorms Business Partnership, which addresses the sustainability challenges of this region, claims that more younger people are living in the park after ten years of the partnership, concrete measures that have led to this situation and would be helpful for the Salzkammergut are missing in their follow-up report. Furthermore, Kitzbühel, which represents a model region in terms of promoting a sense of identity to raise awareness of the significance of tourism in a region, also has the problem of an enormous second home residence rate. Therefore, the Salzkammergut has to be careful not to become a ghost town during off-season, as mentioned by Christian Andriska in the case of Kitzbühel: Kitzbühel is an empty place in the summer with only the ‘private ownership’ signs left.470

In terms of mobility, several Austrian regions have been presented that were able to implement successful mobility concepts in tourism, e.g. the KitzSki feeder railways in Kitzbühel or Hinterstoder as participant of the ‘Pearls of the Alps’ cooperation. Nevertheless, these concepts cannot be transferred one to one to the Salzkammergut region. For Kitzbühel, the main mobility challenge was to transfer thousands of skiers to the ski slopes, whereby their current concept is quite suitable. This was also the case for the ski area of Hinterstoder. The main challenge for the Salzkammergut in this regard is its extensive area. Precisely because of the efforts made in terms of visitor guidance, as mentioned by the experts, a concentrated transport of tourists to a central point would not be very conducive.

Finally, the aspect of a holistically sustainable region is mentioned at this point. As the examples of South Sardinia or the Pillachtal showed, it is certainly possible to holistically implement the idea

469 Cp. Preslmair 2018, n.p. 470 Cp. Andriska 2019, r. 378 f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 91/127 of a sustainable region in the sense of destination management. Although there are very good approaches in terms of sustainable tourism in the Salzkammergut, each region is currently working on its own or at most with a neighboring region, as facilitated through the LEADER communities.

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5.5. SWOT-Analysis of the Salzkammergut

The term ‘SWOT’ should be understood as an integrative approach to analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks that arise for a company in connection with its market or microenvironment.471 It aims to assess the own performance in the light of the relevant competitors while assessing future market conditions. Strengths and weaknesses are to be understood as compared advantages or disadvantages of the organization and thus covers the internal perspective of the analysis. Opportunities and threats stand for the respective industry and integrates the external perspective into the analysis. Only from the synthesis of external and internal perspectives, further strategic derivations can be deduced.472

Based on the previously presented aspects relating to sustainable tourism in the Salzkammergut, the results are summarized in the following SWOT analysis. In the table below, the individual aspects of sustainability are illustrated in accordance with the three dimensions of sustainability.

Strengths Weaknesses Environmental Perspective - Rich in natural resources, e.g. water reserves - Most tourism offers weather-dependent - Idyllic and unique landscape - Mobility: many car arrivals due to missing cross- - Numerous protected areas, e.g. Natura 2000 and traffic connections and micro-public transport European conservation areas system - Strict Austrian nature conservation laws make it - Resource consumption and (water) pollution on easier for tourism to maintain its selling peak days proposition Societal and Cultural Perspective - Intensive cooperation of local networks with - High seasonality of job offers tourism sector - Sense of mass tourism on peak days (mainly - Important employer of tourism sector caused by day guests) - Benefit of recreational opportunities and activities - Mass tourism in Hallstatt for locals - Local citizens suffer from too many guests - Tourism projects usually widely accepted by the - Low job offers outside the tourism sector local population - Creation and preservation of social community is - UNESCO World Heritage Site Hallstatt hampered by second residences - Authentic cultural tourism offers Economic Perspective - Strong economic performance of tourism sector - Declining number of certified companies - Company structure of tourism mainly family-run - Expansion of economically viable public transport businesses network not possible due to decentralized region - Brand ‘Salzkammergut’ well positioned as an all- and its large area year destination - Institutional barriers due to three national borders - Broad portfolio of tourism offers in all market - Low water levels limit shipping traffic segments - High regional value added, e.g. in gastronomy - Benefits of digital media already recognized and partially used

Table 2: SWOT Analysis of the Salzkammergut – Strengths and Weaknesses Source: own compilation

471 Cp. Homburg 2017, p. 501 472 Cp. Kreutzer 2018, pp. 107 f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 93/127

Opportunities Threats Environmental Perspective - Relief of tourism hotspots through enhanced - Some tourism professionals do not have an visitor guidance by tourism associations understanding of tourism and its ecological effects - Less resources consumed through use of new - Water pollution at lakes due to too many tourists possibilities of tourist information, e.g. apps, info - Disruption of the natural fauna and flora due to screens too many tourists - A more sustainable mobility concept would lead to - Rising global temperatures lead to lower water less individual travel and, thus, less pollutant levels at lakes and changes in their ecosystems emissions - Declining glacier area - Promoting resource conservation in the - Loss of natural beauty due to too much building accommodation and hotel industry activity - Great potential for renewable energy supply for heat and electricity (e.g. through hydropower) Societal and Cultural Perspective - Seasonal expansion of tourism offers leads to - Young employees do not see any job creation of new / secure jobs opportunities outside of tourism - Stricter controls and access barriers at tourist - High rate of second home owners leads to hotspots purchasing power outflow, which endangers the - Environmental awareness and regionalism are local supply and makes village centers extinct becoming increasingly important to tourists and - Generational change or continuation of farmers is locals alike not always guaranteed - Cultural tourism enriches the low season - Selling domestic culture and customs - Locals are sceptical of investments in tourism development in the region - Anchoring that specific problems can only be solved together for the whole region Economic Perspective - Expansion of weather-independent tourism offers - Tourist destinations are in global competition with - Better seasonal utilization the whole world - New opportunities due to digitalization - Decision about destination made by tourists are - Active offerings based on new trends, e.g. e-bikes much more short-time - Promote regional value added and - Economic losses due to changes relating to maintain/strengthen jobs climate change - Using online presentation as a chance to present - Foreign investors are terminating tourist offers the Salzkammergut as a year-round destination that do not yield enough “short-term” profit

Table 3: SWOT Analysis of the Salzkammergut – Opportunities and Threats Source: own compilation

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5.6. Development options towards a more sustainable tourism in the region of Salzkammergut

After highlighting the current situation regarding upcoming trends and challenges as well as possible opportunities and threats for the Salzkammergut in relation to sustainable tourism, this final chapter outlines the possible options that can help the entire region make even greater progress towards becoming a sustainable tourism destination.

5.6.1. Resource efficiency and preservation

Resource efficiency is especially important for the areas of accommodation and gastronomy in the tourism sector. Intelligent energy management can help save a company money in the long run and makes an important contribution to climate protection. There are many ways to set targeted measures with optimized and efficient energy management, in order to achieve considerable savings with little effort. An optimal and efficient use of resources saves costs and improves the operating result, increases the satisfaction of guest and helps secure sustainable jobs in the region. Michael Spechtenhauser confirms that especially the respective entrepreneurs in a region can work sustainably.473 Taking the first step towards energy efficiency is therefore the responsibility of the entrepreneur.

At the institutional level, there is a lot of informative support in this regard. In 2015, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy published a guideline for energy management in the hotel and gastronomy industry for the third time. In addition to legal frameworks, companies find valuable tips and contacts that can help with their energy management and illustrate the actual implementation based on practical examples.474 There is also a broad climate protection network through support programs for the climate protection initiative “klimaaktiv”, which supports companies from all sectors in reducing their energy consumption and cutting costs.

Furthermore, parts of the Salzkammergut region are already a ‘Climate and Energy Model Region’, such as the region of REGATTA, the Traunsteinregion, Inner Salzkammergut or the Mondseeland, and numerous successful projects have already been realized in these areas. The Salzkammergut should continue to rely on good cooperation between existing networks such as LEADER, climate and energy model regions and the existing companies and/or stakeholders, in order to continue to benefit not only from existing subsidy opportunities, but also to operate in a resource-efficient manner in the future.

The aspect of resource preservation is most significant in terms of the natural landscape resources that are possessed by the Salzkammergut. It is beneficial for the Salzkammergut that there are

473 Cp. Spechtenhauser 2019, r. 10 474 Cp. BMWFW 2015b, pp. 1 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 95/127 very strict nature conservation laws in Austria. Nevertheless, it is primarily the task of the tourism managers but also of the municipalities that these laws are respected and, if possible, extended further.

In addition, when expanding the tourism offer, a meticulous evaluation must be given to ensure that new tourism projects, especially those connected to the natural landscape, are considered in terms of sustainability, so that the existing flora and fauna is not disturbed.

5.6.2. Mobility Concept

From a local viewpoint and from the perspective of tourism, mobility can be seen as one of the major challenges the Salzkammergut has to face. The main aspects relating to this challenge can be summed up as follows:

- Enormous size of the region with remote areas - Three national borders - No area-wide connection to public transport networks - Few cross-traffic connections

A mobility concept for tourism requires a high degree of flexibility, which is often not implemented through regular scheduled public connections. Demand-oriented transport can usually better satisfy the tourism demand.475 Therefore, in addition to public transport, e-car sharing, rented electric vehicles or call taxis, as already implemented in the Traunstein region, could also provide a flexible solution for less connected areas or micro-transport.

As the interviews show, experts in Salzkammergut tourism have recognized the urgent need for a holistic mobility concept for the region. As Michael Spechtenhauser stated, a working group was convened in spring 2019 that consisted of different tourism stakeholders and was dedicated to the topic of mobility in the Salzkammergut. The initial draft of the mobility concept has already been presented to the three regional councils of Upper Austria, Styria and Salzburg, followed by another meeting with the Austrian Transport Council. The aim of the working group is to set up a so-called mobility card in the medium or long run.476 If this project is implemented, it will bring an enormous added value to the region, but also to the tourism sector, which could offer a sustainable mobility concept.

The term ‘sustainable mobility concept’ is not uniformly defined in literature. Oftentimes, there is no mention of a mobility concept, but sustainable mobility does come up. Essential characteristics, such as traffic safety, environmental friendliness, needs-orientedness and affordability, should be reflected in the design of the transport system. Thus, the aim should be to ensure mobility and not

475 Cp. BMWFW 2016, p. 9 476 Cp. Spechtenhauser 2019, r. 25 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 96/127 to restrict it. Basically, a mobility card should address all age groups and their specific needs. However, the challenge is to respond to the various needs of individual target groups and serve them as comprehensively as possible through the concept.477

In relation to the planned mobility card, it would also be conceivable and desirable for it to be combined with new digital media such as an app. In addition to an attractive portfolio of transport services, motivated and/or financially strong cooperation partners could also be integrated. For example, hotels could also offer services such as a call taxi outside of their regular rush hours. Networked via an app, the offer and the demand for a transport service could be used especially for the missing public cross-connections. It is also possible to purchase the card as a mobile phone ticket, for example with a prepaid function, by linking the mobility card via an app.

The following figure illustrates how the mobility concept could be used in conjunction with a smartphone app.

Figure 17: Sustainable Mobility Concept in Conjunction with a Smartphone App Source: own compilation based on Gais/Kasch 2018, p. 150

5.6.3. Strengthening regional value added

When looking at value added, three areas are of particular importance: agriculture, the food industry and, of course, tourism. In the previous considerations on the Salzkammergut region, it was already clear that the regional value added within the region is very high, especially in the

477 Cp. Gais/Kasch 2018, p. 103 ff September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 97/127 gastronomy sector. Here, the Salzkammergut follows the Austrian trend to use a very high proportion of products that are directly from the region.

This path must continue to be driven by the tourism industry in the future. In this context, the well- established LEADER cooperation, which highlights regional value creation as an important element of their agenda, can serve as a driving force and exemplary power. For example, REGIS exclusively mentioned the increase of regional value creation through a professionalization and intensification of excursion tourism, including regional products and services, as one of their goals in their report of local development strategy.478 In order to facilitate the implementation of the individual projects, the LEADER regions can, for example, follow specific guidelines.

The purpose of such guidelines is to initiate cooperation projects, identify ways to work together successfully and draw attention to the fact that EU funding is also available to those who work towards a cooperation between agriculture, the food industry and tourism. These guidelines are addressed to regional or LEADER managers, project implementers and all initiators from agriculture, the food industry and tourism who strengthen the culinary position of the regional value added through networking and can assist by the implementation, for instance.479 Such projects that focus on culinary tourism could serve the regional agriculture. Large parts of Austrian agriculture have difficulties in a globalized market because of their small business structure. However, they offer premium quality in a variety of local products. Above all, the quality advantages result from the uniqueness of the alpine region, namely the small-scale farming structure, which does not permit mass production and, thus, does not interfere the ecological balance. Therefore, increasing local cooperation projects would be an opportunity to counteract the high pressure towards rationalization and mechanization, but also the increased competitive pressure due to growing liberalization and deregulation on the one hand and falling subsidies on the other.480 In addition to regional gastronomy and product offers, tourism can also add value to a region in many other ways e.g. specific offers like farm holidays or additional excursion to traditional craftsmen at regional partners. The more local economic cycles are expanded, and local partners are involved in such projects, the more regional value added the Salzkammergut can achieve.

However, this last aspect not only refers to gastronomy or agriculture. The mobility concept described in the previous chapter could also provide benefits at the level of regional value creation. In addition to the aspect of additional income, not only tourism would benefit from new transport services such as sharing stations for bicycles or call taxis, but also the local providers who offer their services via online platforms in real time.

478 Cp. Regis 2017, p. 57 479 Cp. Kohl 2008, p. 3 480 Cp. Kohl 2008, p. 10 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 98/127

5.6.4. Marketing strategy

Based on the previous explanations, the question remains which marketing strategies could be used that are both suitable for the region of the Salzkammergut and relevant in the context of sustainable tourism. As shown in the following image, the concept of sustainability has already been partially integrated into the advertising concept of the Salzkammergut.

Figure 18: A Tree for your Booking Source: Salzkammergut Tourism 2018b, n.p.

In the framework of the project ‘A tree for your booking’, which was initiated by Salzkammergut Tourism in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Forests, a tree is planted for each booked hiking tour in the region. Increasing the awareness of nature and the environment among tourists is another goal of this project. The project began in the Weißenbachtal in 2018. With travel documents, the hiker receives a photo of ‘his’ or ‘her’ tree on arrival. This shows the tourist which positive sustainable consequences his or her booking has.481

As has been mainly the case so far, the focus of a marketing strategy should not be on the booked- out main seasons as the Salzkammergut owes not only enchanting landscape but also a unique history and culture. Those who visit the Salzkammergut are mainly Austrians themselves or from neighboring countries. The target group of elderly people should be considered in the marketing concept because a rising level of prosperity and retirees who are increasingly fitter and more agile open up a large niche segment for tourism in the Salzkammergut. This is precisely the kind of niche that the Salzkammergut can ideally use with keywords such as culture, or even history. In addition to a better seasonal capacity utilization, interesting new products and packages can thus be created outside of the main seasons.

481 Cp. Salzkammergut Tourism 2018b, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 99/127

An expansion like this is a big step in the right direction, especially in terms of sustainability. As Dolnicar notes, this “can help to avoid risks for tourism businesses through market concentration and thus might be just as sustainable for the industry as for the natural resources of the country”.482 However, it is important to ensure that the guest card that is already being offered, like the ‘Salzkammergut Summer Card’, will be extended to include such aspects, in order to use this marketing instrument effectively and successfully.

Another option represents the use of labels and standards, as described in relevance for Austria in subchapter 4.5. This would have two advantages for the Salzkammergut. First, sustainability conscious travellers would be actively addressed and further increases in the number of overnight stays could be achieved. Secondly, regardless of the label or certification, each of these is based on at least one of the three pillars of sustainability, which should be actively improved. The tourism managers should therefore actively approach the tourism businesses and support them with the introduction, implementation and the preservation of the specific labels and certifications. Of course, this assumes that the managers themselves have dealt with this topic in depth and are willing to do so.

A further important marketing aspect is the aforementioned mobility card, which is already in the planning phase. After the basis of a successful mobility card has been created, a well-developed marketing concept is essential for the success it. Missing communication measures or marketing concepts, through which the benefits of the card concept cannot be recognized, complicate the customer acquisition and retention. Potential customers must be convinced that a mobility card offers far more possibilities, convenience and user-friendliness than separately using the offers.483 In the long term, it would even be desirable to combine the mobility card with the already existing guest cards, such as the Salzkammergut Card. However, this should only happen once the mobility concept has been established and proven after some time.

In conclusion, sustainability marketing activities and offerings must be communicated with care, different target groups should be taken into account and various channels should be used.484 Above all, the Salzkammergut can use the new possibilities of digitalization to create new experiences for the tourists in a more sustainable way.

482 Dolnicar 2004, p. 217 483 Cp. Gais/Kasch 2018, p. 117 484 Cp. Weber/Taufer 2016, p. 9 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 100/127

6. Conclusion

In the course of this master’s thesis, it was shown that sustainable tourism, with its underlying dimensions of economical, environmental and social sustainability, has become an increasingly important topic in recent years and has gained attention on an institutional, (inter)national, regional, corporate and individual level. From a macroeconomic point of view, tourism significantly contributes to the generation of GDP, whereby the indirect contribution of this sector to the economy is considerably higher and has a high priority for job offers. Within the EU, which accounts for 40 percent of the world’s international tourist arrivals, the share was over 10 percent in 2018. Austria could even achieve a higher value of 15.9 percent in 2017. In both cases – the EU and Austria, the economic value of tourism increased in recent years.

In order to continue this contribution, great efforts have been made at the EU and national level to promote tourism that meets the sustainability criteria. As driver to reach the SDGs set by the UN in 2015 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, many policy initiatives have been launched. Through ETIS, for instance, a holistic approach to managing the information of sustainable tourism in a destination could be provided by the EU. In addition, incentives created for example by the EDEN Award can put international aspirations in the spotlight for ambitious destinations that pursue sustainable tourism development. One of the key issues is that the EU is providing large amounts of funding to promote sustainable tourism. The LEADER framework enables sustainable tourism projects to be implemented locally that would otherwise not have been possible for smaller regions, thereby strengthening development even for financially weaker regions. As was demonstrated in Chapter 4, tourism is enormously important to help people contribute to the development of their region, especially at the regional level in Austria. It can be observed that sustainable quality improvements in tourism are seen as more important in Austria’s tourism policy than a pure capacity expansion. One best practice example of a national initiative thereby is the foundation of the “Pearls of the Alps”, a concept to foster sustainable mobility that could be realized in the framework of the ÖSTRAT.

Nevertheless, much more important than institutional or national actions is managing sustainable tourism at a local level. In Agenda 21, it already became clear that concrete issues and solutions have to be addressed from a local perspective. Therefore, a significant part of this master’s thesis focused on the region of the Salzkammergut. Highlighting the good economic performance and its strong development in recent years, tourism can be credited with a significant role in the economy of this region. Since 2002, the Salzkammergut has been marketed as a holistic brand, achieving record results of more than five million arrivals per year. The predominantly family- owned companies of the region were able to achieve an almost threefold increase in comparison to the rest of Austria. Among other things, this positive development is connected to the rich

September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 101/127 treasures of the Salzkammergut. The beautiful, often protected landscape and the historical and cultural significance of this region are continuing to attract tourists.

For a tourism destination, a pure growth in terms of overnight stays or arrivals is no guarantee for sustainable tourism development. The almost region-wide local networks and cooperations in the Salzkammergut, which have the promotion of sustainable tourism as one of their priorities, play an essential role in a future positive development. Successful joint projects of the LEADER cooperation could create new tourist offers, which aim, above all, to open up additional niches for local tourism and create another selling point for the region outside the classic and fully exploited seasons. As already summarized in the SWOT analysis (see subchapter 5.3), the Salzkammergut has a wealth of strengths that make it an attractive tourist destination. However, there are also some weaknesses with regard to sustainability in the region. Many tourist offers are weather- dependent. On warm summer days, the region suffers from too many guests, especially those who go on day trips. Due to a lack of a mobility concept with little public transport connections, these guests arrive by car and move on predominantly with it during their stay, which leads to traffic-related burdens, especially around the popular lakes. Furthermore, there are few job offers for the locals outside the tourism sector. Therefore, they are forced to commute to their workplaces outside the region, which leads to a further increase in traffic and the emission of greenhouse gases. From an economical perspective in relation to sustainable tourism, it also has to be noted that there is a declining number of companies certified with the Austrian Eco-label.

A positive aspect is that in the Salzkammergut region, as well as within Austria, the regional value added in the gastronomy and accommodation sector is already very high. Here tourism can be of enormous importance, above all in the sense of two SDGs No. 8 “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”485 and No. 12 “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”486, and make a significant contribution to their achievement. Especially the latter goal addresses the often excessive resource consumption in many tourism regions, which is why the Salzkammergut should foster on more resource-saving tourism options like e.g. the promotion of Green Events.

In order to improve the region’s competitiveness, the Salzkammergut should increasingly focus on the opportunities outlined in the SWOT analysis, in order to ensure sustainable tourism in the future. In addition, the identified risks must be adequately taken into account by tourism institutions and related stakeholders. In particular, mobility requires a rapid solution in the entire region. This need has been recognized by the tourist experts and actively addressed by the work group in terms of the mobility card. Since the interviews clearly indicated that the region sees itself as a whole, the institutional problem of the three national borders could also be solved. Here, the

485 UN 2015b, p. 24 486 UN 2015b, p. 26 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 102/127

Salzkammergut can orient itself at the discussed flagship regions like the “Pearls of the Alps”, which also represents a multi-regional mobility concept. For risks resulting from climate change, for example, it is difficult to determine any options for action, since climate experts often disagree about their actual impact. Nevertheless, concrete weather-related effects such as the sinking water levels of lakes are already noticeable in the Salzkammergut.

As highlighted in the previous chapter, there is still potential to further foster a more sustainable tourism in the region of the Salzkammergut. Today, when a holiday destination presents itself in terms of sustainability, the focus is usually on inspiring natural landscapes and protected areas – i.e. the ecological dimension. These resources will continue to be an essential basis of tourism in the future. Nevertheless, innovation-oriented, sustainable offerings are much more important. Only in conjunction with social and economic, sustainable successful offers can be developed in the medium and long run.487 In the long term, sustainable tourism can only be guaranteed if integrated ecological, economic and socially compatible sustainable tourism concepts are provided through an interaction and cooperation of the local community, governmental institutions and initiatives as well as representatives of the tourism industry, to foster conscious consumption.488 Therefore, future marketing strategies of the Salzkammergut should increasingly focus on new trends such as tourism for the elderly, which, in addition to a better seasonal distribution of tourists, would also lead to a better visitor guidance away from the classic hot spots of the Salzkammergut. These activities and offerings must be communicated with care, different target groups have to be taken into account and different channels that particularly arise from digitalization should be used. Thus, tourism in the Salzkammergut can continue to be further developed in a sustainable way.

487 Cp. Austria Tourism 2012, p. 2 488 Cp. Pitters 2015, p. 25 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 103/127

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Umweltbundesamt (2018b): EMAS – das betriebliche Umweltmanagementsystem. http://www.umweltbundesamt.at/umweltsituation/ums/emas (2018, September 08).

Umweltbundesamt (2018c): EMAS Statistik. http://www.umweltbundesamt.at/umweltsituation/ums/emas/emas_statistik (2018, November 11).

UN Global Compact (2019): Our Mission. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission (2019, September 06).

UN – United Nations (1999): Economic Aspects of Sustainable Development in the European Union. http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/ec/Eco.htm (2018, September 08).

UN – United Nations (2015c): Sustainable Development Goals to kick in with start of new year. https://news.un.org/en/story/2015/12/519172-sustainable-development-goals-kick-start-new-year (2019, August 27).

UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2012): Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. WHC. 12/01. http://whc.unesco.org/archive/opguide12-en.doc (2019, March 09).

UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2019): Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/806 (2019, March 24).

UNWTO (2017b): International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017. http://www2.unwto.org/content/international-year-sustainable-tourism-development-2017 (2018, September 09).

UNWTO (n.d.): Glossary of tourism terms. https://statistics.unwto.org/sites/all/files/docpdf/glossaryterms.pdf (2018, September 15).

Weisses Rössl (2019): Tourismus und Nachhaltigkeit im Hotel Weisses Rössel am Wolfgansee. Hand in Hand mit der Natur – im Weissen Rössl im Salzkammergut. https://www.weissesroessl.at/hotel/nachhaltigkeit-wolfgangsee-urlaub.html (2019, June 06).

Yale University (2019): Environmental Performance Index Country Report Austria. https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/epi-country-report/AUT (2019, September 09).

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8. Appendix

8.1. Appendix 1 – Sustainable Development Goals and Targets489

489 Source: UN 2015c, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 120/127

8.2. Appendix 2 – Key indicators and associated measures from an organizational perspective490

Dimension Key indicator Possible measures

Employment  Number, type and duration of jobs  Gender equity

Business viability  Expenditure  Arrivals  Profitability Economic Economic  Guest satisfaction

Quality of Life  Resident empowerment  Congestion and crowding  Community attitudes towards tourism  Access to amenities  Changes in crime rate

Social Social Maintenance of integrity of local  Preservation of local cultures and traditions communities (cultural)  Maintenance of cultural sites  Authentic representation of local cultures

Water quality and water  Volume and changes in volume  Water treatment management

Solid waste management  Recycling

Energy conservation  Reduction in energy usage Environmental Environmental

490 Source: own compilation based on Agyeiwaah et al. 2017, p. 31 September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 121/127

8.3. Appendix 3 – ETIS core indicators491

Section A: Destination Management Criteria Indicator reference# ETIS core indicators A.1 Sustainable tourism A.1.1 Percentage of tourism enterprises/establishments in the public policy destination using a voluntary certification/labelling for environmental/quality/sustainable and/or Corporate Social Responsibility A.2 Customer satisfaction A.2.1 Percentage of tourists and same-day visitors that are satisfied with their overall experience in the destination A.2.2 Percentage of repeat/return visitors (within 5 years)

Section B: Economic Value Criteria Indicator reference# ETIS core indicators B.1 Tourism flow (volume B.1.1 Number of tourist nights per month and value) at destination B.1.2 Number of same-day visitors per month B.1.3 Relative contribution of tourism to the destination’s economy (% GDP) B.1.4 Daily spending per overnight tourist B.1.5 Daily spending per same-day visitors B.2 Tourism enterprise(s) B.2.1 Average length of stay of tourists (nights) performance B.2.2 Occupancy rate in commercial accommodation per month and average for the year B.3 Quantity and quality of B.3.1 Direct tourism employment as percentage of total employment employment in the destination B.3.2. Percentage of jobs in tourism that are seasonal B.4 Tourism supply chain B.4.1 Percentage of locally produced food, drinks, goods and services sources by the destination’s tourism enterprises

Section C: Social and Cultural Impact Criteria Indicator reference# ETIS core indicators C.1 Community/social C.1.1 Number of tourists/visitors per 100 residents impact C.1.2 Percentage of residents who are satisfied with tourism in the destination (per month/season) C.1.3 Number of beds available in commercial accommodation establishments per 100 residents C.1.4 Number of second homes per 100 homes C.2 Health and Safety C.2.1 Percentage of tourists who register a complaint with the police C.3 Gender equality C.3.1 Percentage of men and women employed in the tourism sector C.3.2 Percentage of tourism enterprises where the general manager position is hold by a woman C.4 Inclusion/accessibility C.4.1 Percentage of rooms in commercial accommodation establishments accessible for people with disabilities C.4.2 Percentage of rooms in commercial accommodation establishments participating in recognised accessibility information schemes C.4.3 Percentage of public transport that is accessible to people with disabilities and specific access requirements C.4.4 Percentage of tourist attractions that are accessible to people with disabilities and/or participating in recognised accessibility information schemes C.5 Protecting and C.5.1 Percentage of residents that are satisfied with the impacts of enhancing cultural tourism on the destination’s identity heritage, local identity and C.5.2 Percentage of the destination’s events that are focused on assets traditional/local culture and heritage

491 Source: own compilation based on European Commission 2016a, pp. 21 f September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 122/127

Section D: Environmental impact Criteria Indicator reference# ETIS core indicators D.1 Reducing transport D.1.1 Percentage of tourists and same-day visitors using different impact modes of transport to arrive at the destination D.1.2 Percentage of tourists and same-day visitors using local/soft mobility/public transport services to get around the destination D.1.3 Average travel (km) by tourists and same-day visitors from home to the destination D.1.4 Average carbon footprint to tourists and same-day visitors travelling from home to the destination D.2 Climate change D.2.1 Percentage of tourism enterprises involved in climate change mitigation schemes – such as: CO2 offset, low energy systems, etc. – and ‘adaptation’ responses and actions D.2.2 Percentage of tourism accommodation and attraction infrastructure located in ‘vulnerable zones’ D.3 Solid waste D.3.1 Waste production per tourist night compared to general management population waste production per person (kg) D.3.2 Percentage of tourism enterprises separating different types of waste D.3.3 Percentage of total waste recycled per tourist compared to total waste recycled per resident per year D.4 Sewage treatment D.4.1 Percentage of sewage from the destination treated to at least secondary level prior to discharge D.5 Water management D.5.1 Water consumption per tourist night compared to general population water consumption per resident night D.5.2 Percentage of tourism enterprises taking actions to reduce water consumption D.5.3 Percentage of tourism enterprises using recycled water D.6 Energy usage D.6.1 Energy consumption per tourist night compared to general population energy consumption per resident night D.6.2 Percentage of tourism enterprises that take actions to reduce energy consumption D.6.3 Percentage of annual amount of energy consumed from renewable sources (Mwh) compared to overall energy consumption at destination level per year D.7 Landscape and D.7.1 Percentage of local enterprises in the tourism sector actively biodiversity protection supporting protection, conversation and management of local biodiversity and landscapes

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8.4. Appendix 4 – Organizational Structure of Tourism in Austria492

492 Source: BMNT 2018d, n.p. September 16, 2019 Silke Dannhofer 124/127

8.5. Appendix 5 – Semi-structured Interview Guideline

Target persons: representatives of a tourism association in the Salzkammergut region

QUESTIONS ALL

1. 2017 was declared by the UNWTO as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism. What does the concept of sustainable tourism mean for you in general, or which aspects do you find most significant?

2. At a local level, which aspects of sustainability are particularly relevant to your region? Can you think of any other aspects related to the following sustainability topics? - Environment - Social / cultural issues in the region - Importance in / for the economy

3. Where do you see the biggest challenges or opportunities for your region in the future?

4. How would you generally assess the position of the Salzkammergut in terms of sustainability in the future?

5. Do you feel adequately informed / supported by public authorities / federal / state or other public bodies in terms of sustainable tourism? In your opinion, what has already been well established on the local level (for example, information about funding, etc.), and where would you like more support?

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QUESTIONS SALZKAMMERGUT MARKETING

6. In your opinion, how important is sustainability for the development of tourism in your region?

7. Do you see the Salzkammergut as well positioned in terms of sustainable tourism against your competitors? Why?

8. What could be improved and where in particular?

9. A small number of regions in Austria are certified in terms of sustainability, e.g. the Schmittenhöhe, which is Austria’s first EMAS-certified ski resort. In your opinion, is such a certification also conceivable for the Salzkammergut?

QUESTIONS LEADER-MANAGEMER

10. In your opinion, what significance do the municipalities have for tourism?

11. How is the cooperation with tourist boards in general? Which projects worked well (and why); which ones did not work well?

12. Are sustainable tourism projects planned for the future? If yes, which ones?

13. Since 2019, certain tourism associations in Upper Austria have been merged by the state, including the tourism associations Attersee-Attergau. In your opinion, what concrete effects did this have in practice?

QUESTIONS TOURISM EXPERTS AT TOURIST BOARDS

14. How do you personally assess the seasonal capacity utilization of your region, or where do you see any starting points or potential to create a more seasonal capacity utilization?

15. When is high season in your region? What are the biggest challenges you face in the high season?

16. Would you say that there is mass tourism in your region during high season?

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17. Do you think that the local population feels disturbed by tourism, especially in the high season? Why / Why not?

18. In some tourist regions, a wide range of mobility concepts have already been created with regard to tourism, e.g. in the course of the cooperation project “Pearls of the Alps”. Is such a project also conceivable for your region? Where do you see the greatest challenges in the field of mobility?

19. Tourists who have a secondary residence in a tourist region are often a thorn in the side of locals (as, for example, the land prices rise for locals as well). Since 2019, municipalities have to claim a second home tax. How do you see the development regarding secondary residence from the point of view of your region?

20. Last summer was often referred to as a “record summer” in the media. The following winter, parts of the Salzkammergut were nearly covered in snow. How do you personally assess climate change and the accompanying weather extremes? Where do you see the opportunities and risks for tourism in your region?

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