New Association - Allgauer Bergbahn Initiative (ABBI) Strengthens The Representation Of The Interests Of Lift Co’s
Recently, 17 ski lift and mountain railway companies in the Allgäu founded the “Allgäuer Bergbahn Initiative” (ABBI) association. The aim of the initiative is to give member companies a common and strong voice towards politics, the public and associations. At the same time, she will be a competent contact for political decision-makers, administrations and the public. “With the Allgäuer Bergbahn Initiative, we now have a common voice that does justice to the importance of the Allgäu: The Allgäu is Germany's largest connected tourism destination with 21 million overnight stays and almost 5 million guest arrivals. The mountain railways are one of the leading tourism companies," explains Bernhard Joachim, Managing Director of Allgäu GmbH. Mountain railways make the Allgäu a popular holiday destination and help promote tourism, which in turn supports the local economy and creates jobs. "We combine interests of companies in the region and are the central voice. We not only want to concentrate on political advocacy, but also see ourselves as a center of excellence for sustainable, year-round tourism in the region," explains Henrik Volpert, board member of the Oberstdorf-Kleinwalsertal Bergbahnen and newly elected board member of the Allgäuer Bergbahn Initiative.
Allgäu, Swabia, Bavaria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg: Why cross-border cooperation is important.
The ABBI is not a ski pass association and is not a competition or alternative to existing associations and interest groups, as the companies present emphasize. It would like to effectively bundle the concerns of the Allgäuer Bergbahnen at a local and regional level and act as a cross-border interface to the national associations: During the Corona crisis, it became clear that the tourism service providers must work together in the two-country region. In addition, the energy crisis has shown that the concerns of small and medium-sized companies in the tourism industry were only given limited attention by politicians and the public. The club would like to counteract this. All cable car, drag lift and mountain railway companies from the Allgäu, Tyrol and Vorarlberg can join ABBI. The Allgäuer Bergbahn Initiative is based on the Allgäu Tirol Bergwelt GmbH (ATB), an association of Allgäu and Tyrolean cable cars and drag lifts that form the joint Superschnee ski pass network. In order to keep the structures lean and efficient, the initiative will be organizationally linked to Allgäu Tirol Bergwelt GmbH and thus to Allgäu GmbH.
At today's founding meeting, Henrik Volpert, board member of the Oberstdorf-Kleinwalsertal Bergbahnen, was elected chairman of the association. Thomas Dusch (Bergbahnen Ofterschwang-Gunzesried GmbH & Co. KG), Anja Hagenauer (BergWelt GmbH & Co. KG), and Manfred Köpf (Skiliftgesellschaft Jungholz, Gesellschaft mbH) as deputies.
The following were elected to the advisory board: Ralf Speck (Alpspitzbahn GmbH & Co.KG), Rupert Schön (Eschacher Liftbetriebe GmbH), Tobias Linnemann (Berg-Naturerlebnis Riedbergerhorn GmbH & Co. KG), Martin Fahr (Hörnerbahn GmbH & Co. KG) and Frank Seyfried (Tegelbergbahn GmbH & Co. KG) and as a permanent guest Johannes Krieg (Kleinwalsertaler Bergbahn AG).
