31st TFA Tourismusforum Alpenregionen Held In Oberstdorf Kleinwalsertal

The decision-makers and executives of the mountain railway industry and alpine tourism met in Oberstdorf Kleinwalsertal. The organizers were able to boast a proud number of participants from four Alpine countries in a dynamic and hospitable destination.

COLLABORATION “RETHINKED”

The directors of the Bergbahnen Oberstdorf Kleinwalsertal, Andreas Gapp and Johannes Krieg, presented how a functioning and trusting cooperation works across national borders. Markus Redl, CEO of ecoplus Alpin GmbH, shared his experiences and visions from (pre)alpine Lower Austria, while Urs Zurbriggen, CEO, presented the successful My Leukerbad AG.

LEADERSHIP IN TIMES OF CHANGE

In the second part of the day, the focus was on employees and company management. Headhunter Ulrike Winzer started the afternoon impulsively and made it clear that a company must actively look after its employees. Top-class things continued with Christoph Bründl and the “Burn-In instead of Burn-out” management principle of the Bründl Sports Group. Robert Frank, the host of Hotel FRANKS in Oberstdorf, experienced a home game. His credo: "It doesn't work without loyal and motivated employees - so as a company, it's best to take responsibility for the future yesterday". For new thinking and joint action in the Alps, Prof. Dr. Ralf Roth from the Cologne Sports University. Evelyne Binsack, extreme athlete and first Swiss woman on the three geographical poles,

EXCLUSIVE NIGHT TRIP TO THE NEBELHORN

A top-class and unique evening program was available for the TFA guests. With an exclusive night driving permit, the whole big TFA family was able to spend the evening on the Nebelhorn. After a hearty buffet on the Höfatsblick at sunset, the evening came to an exuberant end at the TFA bar. In cooperation with the Oberstdorf Kleinwalsertal mountain railways, money was collected at the TFA bar for aid to Ukraine. Together with donations from speakers and the TFA, 10,600 euros in donations were collected.

SUSTAINABILITY FOR A NEW NORMAL

The host region lives the idea of ​​sustainability on all levels - hotels, tourism organization, mountain railways, municipalities - in a convincing way. This was shown by the presentations by Jörn Homburg, Head of Marketing Bergbahnen Oberstdorf Kleinwalsertal, and Elmar Müller, Chairman of the Kleinwalsertal Tourismus Genossenschaft. Innovation and sustainability go hand in hand here and increase the attractiveness of the destination for guests and locals. Oberstdorf is world famous for the Four Hills Tournament. Frank Jost, Tourism Director Oberstdorf and Florian Stern, Managing Director Skiclub Oberstdorf Veranstaltungs GmbH, gave insights into the importance of the various major winter sports events for the destination.

BOLD NEW DARE

As usual at the TFA, "special guests" from outside the industry inspired. The successful architect Hermann Kaufmann presented sustainable, alpine architecture and caused astonished and interested looks. With great courage and ingenuity, the Destination Lenzerheide was able to generate a successful product innovation with the Bike Kingdom. Marc Schlüssel, interim managing director of Lenzerheide Marketing Support AG, was able to impressively underline this with his presentation. The statements made by Markus Wolf, CEO of the Weisse Arena Group, were followed with particular interest. The FlemExpress will set new standards, and the TFA guests were able to get a first glimpse of this forward-looking innovation on the mountain. Berno Stoffel, Director of Swiss Cable Cars (SBS) and Benedicta Aregger, Vice Director SBS. They showed how the association, together with the Federal Council and the cantons, proceeded to implement a "pandemic solution" that was right for the industry. The goal of enabling the continuous opening of the Swiss mountain railways in the winters of 2020/21 and 2021/22 was successfully achieved.

The second day of the forum in the 5* Hotel Ifen in the Kleinwalsertal with Comedian Luis from South Tyrol came to an end in an enjoyable and extremely cheerful manner. On the third day of the forum, the participants were able to take a lot of valuable input with them on the guided Adler7 ski tour or on the hotel tour with insights into successful hotel concepts and a tour of the AudiArena.

Founded and managed by Roland Zegg, the TFA Forum has been an international think tank for the mountain railway and alpine tourism industry for more than three decades. It is an Alpine-wide concept for success for inspiration, content and networking in the German-speaking Alpine regions. Roland Zegg and his TFA team managed to set up another "Power Play" program and bring the alpine tourism industry together again. No other specialist forum of this quality has established itself as a purely privately financed concept that is independent of associations and politics over the past three decades.

And with this spirit for knowledge and networking in the Alpine tourism industry, the TFA Tourism Forum is making great strides towards its 32nd edition. The new date has already been published: from 20th – 22f. March 2023. The destination will be announced soon.