Lower Austria Starts Winter - “Quieter, Gentler And Affordable For Families And Children”
At the start of winter in Lower Austria, Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Managing Director of Lower Austria Advertising Michael Shower and Markus Redl, Managing Director of ecoplus Alpin, gave an outlook on the coming winter season at a press conference in the Landhaus St. Pölten, spoke about innovations and expectations for the next few months.
“In Lower Austria this winter the focus is on decelerating experiences,” said state governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner, “i.e. calmer and gentler.” In addition, winter sports are a tradition in Lower Austria and must therefore be “affordable, above all, for families and children, but also “Be a beginner”. That is why we offer these groups in particular “fair conditions with flexible prices”. Those who book online always pay 15 percent less, those who book earlier pay another up to 30 percent, and online day tickets from 30 euros for adults can already be booked for the entire winter season. “Winter sports remain affordable in Lower Austria,” emphasized Mikl-Leitner, “and far cheaper than nearby competitors or even the ski areas in western Austria.” Lower Austria already had 80 centimeters of fresh snow last weekend at Maiszinken, the Königsberg lifts on Jauerling and Hochkar The winter season has started, next Thursday the Semmering-Hirschenkogel area will open and on the holiday, December 8th, Lackenhof, Annaberg, St. Corona am Wechsel and Mönichkirchen will follow. “Especially to the Mönichkirchen ski area, to the Erlebnisalm Mönichkirchen, we enable a comfortable and ecological journey, because from December 10th a bus will run from Vienna directly to the valley station in around 1.5 hours.”
But in times of global warming, people in Lower Austria don't rely on snow alone, the state governor continued, "that's why we're also focusing on winter offers away from the ski slopes, from the Danube to the Weinviertel." She mentioned activities such as winter hiking, Cross-country skiing or ski touring, “where we are offering touring evenings again this year, which are always fully booked in a short time,” or offers such as ice fishing at the Ottenstein reservoir and alpaca hiking or toboggan runs, which are particularly exciting for children.
In summary, the entire tourism year so far - with 6.4 million overnight stays by the end of October - has been a very good one, emphasized the state governor. These figures are twelve percent above the previous year and only four percent below the record year of 2019. In order to generate even more added value in the country, there are now two clear goals: “Firstly, more overnight stays and here we see great potential with our foreign guests “, said Mikl-Leitner, explaining why the marketing measures are now focusing primarily on the markets of Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. “And secondly, day trips are an important factor, because we are also the number one destination for excursions in winter.” Last season, around 14 million day trips were taken, generating sales of around 700 million euros and “a particularly large number of trips were made to us Families with small children, winter and summer.” Another indicator here is the sales of the NÖ Card, which “had the most successful card season” with almost 200,000 cards sold, over a third more sales compared to the previous year.
The long-term goal in tourism, Mikl-Leitner concluded, is to “develop Lower Austria from an excursion destination to a vacation destination” and here it is important to turn day trippers into vacationers with more overnight stays and the constant expansion of year-round destinations and offerings in Lower Austria. A best practice example here is the St. Corona am Wechsel family arena, which invites you to ski and toboggan in winter and offers numerous hiking and trail routes as well as experiences for children in summer.
Michael Shower, managing director of NÖ Werbe, highlighted this year's motto “Winter action instead of hibernation” at the start of the winter season. Here he particularly recommended “the trial days in Lower Austria, where you can learn and try out cross-country skiing, ski touring or snowshoeing, accompanied by professional guides.” A nationwide day of action will take place on January 13th in all participating winter sports resorts. “Our strategy is to train our guests in various winter sports and activities so that they can then return to Lower Austria to practice them.”
Shower also spoke about the diverse cross-country skiing offering, “where we have more than 800 kilometers of cross-country trails available in Lower Austria, from classic beginner routes and race tracks to skating.” As examples he gave the “cross-country skiing Eldorado Aktivwelt Freiwald im Waldviertel” or the Wechsel panoramic trail in the Vienna Alps in Kirchberg am Wechsel. Finally, he drew attention to the “bucket list for the gentle winter”: “Gentle winter experiences away from the slopes, which you can experience, among other things, as part of our discovery tours.”
Markus Redl, managing director of ecoplus Alpin, spoke, among other things, about the development of the ecoplus Alpin ski and adventure areas, which can be summarized under the keywords “economic and ecological.” Redl particularly referred to the communal festival of the “Friends of the Mountains” ( www. www.freundederberge.at), “our Friends of the Mountains Winter Festivals 2024, five winter festivals every Saturday, starting on January 13th, where we celebrate our community with musical and culinary offerings, ski tests or even excursions to our natural beauties away from the slopes .” The winter festivals take place in the ski areas of Mönichkirchen, Semmering, Hochkar, Annaberg and Lackenhof.
