Governor Mikl-Leitner Presents New Season Ticket “Lower Austria Mountain Adventure Pass”
“Ten ski areas with one card and a wide range of activities this winter, even away from the ski slopes”
In a press conference, Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Michael Duscher, Managing Director of NÖ Werbung, and Markus Redl, Managing Director of ecoplus Alpin, gave an outlook on the winter season in Lower Austria, which will feature an innovation. "Today we are presenting the new 'Lower Austria Mountain Adventure Pass', an attractive offer especially for families," said the Governor.
"The Lower Austria Mountain Adventure Pass is a combination of ten ski areas in Lower Austria, with a total of 125 kilometers of slopes, 51 lifts and good accessibility for all residents of the eastern region and beyond," she explained. The new pass makes skiing affordable, because when you buy an adult pass for 400 euros, all children under 11 go for free, and when you buy two adult passes, all children under 16 go for free - as part of a family. This means that the Mountain Adventure Pass is not only valid for parents, but also for grandparents and patchwork families. In the coming winter season, however, flexible prices will again be offered in the largest ski areas in Lower Austria - apart from the new pass. "This means that those who book early and online benefit from discounts," said Mikl-Leitner. You can buy an adult day pass from around 33 euros, cheaper than in the ski areas in western Austria. "It promises to be a sensational winter," she emphasized. “Just 52 more sleeps until the start of the season, which starts on December 6th and offers 122 days of skiing in Lower Austria until April 6th, 2025.”
There is also an attractive and varied range of activities on offer away from the slopes. This year, a new campaign by NÖ Werbung is "focusing on seven towns - St. Pölten, Baden, Wr. Neustadt, Zwettl, Krems, Retz and Waidhofen ad Ybbs - which serve as a starting point for guests to enjoy tradition and customs on a winter holiday." She spoke, among other things, of Advent and Christmas markets, starting in Grafenegg and the "Flaming Christmas Lights" at Rothschild Castle, right up to the city centre with experiences such as the Retz Adventure Cellar. "Not to forget our thermal baths and wellness hotels, from Linsberg Asia to Therme Laa with the new Silent Villas," said Mikl-Leitner, "but also our cuisine and culture, where on 8th November, in time for the 250th anniversary, we will be opening the Wr. Neustadt will reopen.” Lower Austria also scores points with winter walks and hikes from the Thayatal National Park through the Nibelungengau to the Vienna Woods.
"With our offer, we defy all weather and offer a wide variety of winter holidays in all weathers," said the governor with conviction. The declared goal is to increase the number of overnight stays in the cities in the winter season as well. The summer has already been successful, she concluded: "With a growth of 7.3 percent in overnight stays in August and even 7.4 percent more for foreign guests." The figures for excursion tourism were also particularly successful, especially the NÖ Card "experienced an absolute boom" and was used 330,000 times in August alone. "September was dramatic for everyone due to the floods and, above all, put tourism under water in the truest sense of the word for a few weeks," said Mikl-Leitner. But now they are looking to the winter season with optimism and courage. In general, Lower Austria offers unique experiences all year round and regardless of the weather, such as the Wexl Arena in St. Corona, "where we opened two new trails just at the weekend."
The managing director of NÖ Werbung, Michael Duscher, went into more detail about the new campaign, "in which we are promoting our second pillar, gentle winter tourism, and are therefore putting the seven cities already mentioned in the foreground." Representatives of outstanding companies in the respective region have been won over as protagonists, "who are making a declaration of love for their city," said Duscher, who named Matthias Krenn from the fine bakery in Waidhofen ad Ybbs, Maurice from Vinzenz Pauli, Susanne Dorfer from Landhaus Bacher and Johannes Gutmann from Sonnentor as well as hotelier Josef Dietmann from the Krainerhütte in Baden. Duscher also gave an overview of other offers such as "'Guga hö', where early risers are not only the first on the freshly prepared Mostviertel slopes, but can also enjoy an exclusive hut brunch" or the winter edition of 'Haubenkoch trifft Hüttenwirt', which invites you to go snowshoe hiking on the Rax followed by a 6-course meal. "Our Lower Austrian companies have put together a great program and deserve to be at the top of the Christmas wish list."
Markus Redl, Managing Director of ecoplus Alpin, gave details of the new Lower Austrian mountain adventure pass. "The ten participating ski areas are the Annaberger lifts, the Erlebnisalm Mönichkirchen, the Gemeindealpe Mitterbach, the Hochkar Bergbahnen, Königsberg, the Mariazeller Bürgeralpe, the Ötscherlifte Lackenhof, the family ski area Maiszinken, Semmering Hirschenkogel and the Wexl Arena in St. Corona am Wechsel," said Redl, who explained that the new mountain adventure pass is an attractive and flexible season ticket product that replaces the small regional season tickets. Regarding the "flexible price" offers, he added: "Booking online is always around 15 percent cheaper than booking on site at the cash desk."
