Anita Ericson
Every eco holiday also begins with the arrival. The eco-conscious guest comes by public transport, ideally by train - that makes a slim CO2 balance. Of course he will only do that if he has the opportunity to get around easily and without long waiting times.
In Werfenweng it was already recognized more than 20 years ago, Mayor Peter Brandauer: "Back then, the number of guests went back and 1994 created because of this a mission statement. The idea was to become car-free. Like Zermatt, for example. "It could not be implemented as radically as this, but they felt their way forward step by step, according to Brandauer:" With us you no longer need your own car today. We offer E-city shuttle services, convenient bus connections within the area, transfer for arrival and departure as well as electric cars that can be rented for individual excursions. "Guests arriving by train will receive the Samo-Card for free all mobility services. Even the municipal E-Fun sports equipment, from the Segway to the gladiator car, can be used free of charge, the power is generated by a photovoltaic system. "Of course, the locals also benefit from our Samo services," Brandauer wants to continue on the path taken. "In any case, it has been calculated that our tourism has really and measurably gained momentum with the implementation of the gentle mobility concept."
Eco holidays: 100 percent organic
When it comes to food, there is no way around organic. Although there are comparatively many organic farmers in Austria, it is (still) quite difficult to find suitable restaurants. In order to save yourself the tedious, often frustrating search, you book the accommodation including meals right in the 100-percent-Bioquartier. If one chooses a company that carries the Austrian eco-label, one does not go wrong. A showcase is the Biohotel Rupertus in the Salzburg Pinzgau. "From breakfast to evening cocktail are in our kitchen and bar exclusively organic products in use. The desire to be organic has grown with us over the years. With each food scandal, we took a step towards honest products, "says Rupertus boss Nadja Blumenkamp. As far as possible, she uses local goods. "I have to import coffee and rice, but I can buy cheese, eggs, meat or vegetables directly here". In addition, the Rupertus is based on a holistic approach: the electricity comes from its own PV system or is supplied as green electricity, it is heated with biomass, the waste is completely separated and large parts of the facility carry eco-labels. "We have just had our ecological footprint measured. That's 8,75 kg CO2 per person per night - in conventional homes it's between 20 and 40 kg, "says Nadja Blumenkamp from Biohotel Rupertus, not without pride.
Real experience
Hiking and biking in summer, skiing in winter. With this strategy, domestic tourism has been extremely successful for decades. The ecological problem child is the winter, because in all honesty: Large-scale ski areas and environmental protection go together hard. Sporting alternatives are the much less resource-consuming cross-country skiing or ski touring. In the East Tyrolean Villgraten Valley, it proves that this also leads to economic success. Christof Schett, local tourism and municipal council: "In the 1990er years, our farmers have crossed - they did not want to sell their land. So it was nothing like a large ski resort, for which it would have needed in addition to the slopes and infrastructure such as parking and hotel industry. "Politically, the will was there to oppose mass tourism, not to beg investors, rather small and fine, gentlemen stay in your own home.
Of course, there were voices that accused those responsible of backwardness, but in the end they are glad that it has happened, Schett: "Today we have an intact landscape and mature, small structures - a priceless competitive advantage, because more and more people are looking for exactly that! The number of nights give us in any case right ". There is no ski lift in the Villgraten valley until today, but in summer you rely on the classics of hiking and biking and have established themselves in winter as the top ski tour destination. Because the crowd is so big, you've already thought ahead and introduced a visitor guidance system two years ago. "Together with landowners, hunters and tourists, we have developed ski tours that leave protected areas for game and forest," explains Schett. "In summer there is such a steering for mountain bikers." Speaking of summer: No lift-support forests cast their shadows on the hiker ,
Fair regionality
The last facet of sustainable tourism goes beyond the protection of the environment and the environment. Only when the people on the tour act with the travelers on an equal footing, is the ecobalance correct. In other words, you can sell yourself to tourism or look for economic diversity instead of monoculture.
The pioneer in terms of eco-holidays is the Bregenzerwald, whose inhabitants founded a regional association as early as 1970 (!) For the long-term and balanced development of their homeland. “From the beginning it was about keeping our authenticity and still preventing migration. We have managed that to this day - there are no foreign hotel groups, no tourism zones, no gigantic event clutter in the mountains, ”says Helmut Blank, Mayor of Sulzberg, chairman of Bregenzerwald Tourismus and member of the board of the Bregenzerwald Regio Association. To this end, attention is paid to building culture, top-class cultural events are brought to the country and, above all, the economic focus is on the three pillars of agriculture, handicrafts & trade and quality tourism. Everything is mutually beneficial: The guest comes because he appreciates the beautiful landscapes without large concrete blocks. The farmer who cultivates and thus tends the alpine pastures benefits from the visitors to whom he sells his tasty cheese as a delicacy. Crafts and trades are asked to carefully create new attractions or to renovate traditional inns in a contemporary and ecological way - which in turn offers the guest some spectacularly trendy quarters. The experience is not neglected either: It is simply nice to go on vacation in an area where everything is not about you as a tourist, but where there is still an everyday life that you can watch.
Eco Holiday: Model Gentle Tourism
Approaches to the perfect domestic model tourism destination of the future: guests travel by train, but on-site they are offered a large-scale mobility guarantee with e-vehicles and e-public transport, as practiced in Werfenweng and the other members of the Alpine Pearls (www.werfenweng.eu, www.alpine-pearls.org).
Of course, there are 100 percent bio hotels to choose from that also think holistically - an example of this is the Rupertus in the Salzburg Pinzgau (www.rupertus.at) or the nature hotel Chesa Valisa in the Kleinwalsertal (www.naturhotel.at, www.biohotels.at). Alternatively, the eco-leave can be spent at the organic farm (www.urlaubambauernhof.at).
The quartermaster provides the catering, for a change you can stop off at the organic cheese or in the organic restaurant (www.umweltzeichen.at, www.steiermark.com/biourlaub, www.salzburgerland.com/de/bioparadies, www.bioregion-muehlviertel.at).
Sporting activity in beautiful nature is the focus of the eco-vacation, how much you do it is up to you: the offer is wide, from hiking to mountaineering, from snowshoeing to ski touring in the Villgratental or in the mountaineering villages in general the pallet (www.villgratental.com, www.bergsteigerdoerfer.at).
Of course, as environmentally conscious guests, we accept that there are taboos in nature and respect the rules (www.bergwelt-miteinander.at). Our tourism Utopia is embedded in a completely intact region, which does not live exclusively by tourism, as is the case for example in the Bregenzerwald (www.regiobregenzerwald.at, www.bregenzerwald.at).
Eco holidays: City trip
A large market share in tourism have city breaks. How sustainable these can be depends primarily on the visited city itself, because apart from the hotels, as a visitor to the city, only the infrastructure that is available to the residents themselves is used. The sights of historical nature are anyway outside the debate, not even the most persistent Ökoquerdenker would come up with the idea, for example, demolish Schönbrunn Palace, just because the overall energy efficiency of the house is outdated. What you as a mature traveler can contribute: Traveling by train, Overnight in an eco hotel such. In Vienna at the boutique hotel Stadthalle (the first plus-energy city hotel in the world, www.hotelstadthalle.at) - and also pay attention to organic when going out (www.wien.info under Eat & Drink / Restaurants).
Eco vacation: Relax
The third big travel motive besides active recreation and cultural enjoyment, we find the relaxation. For a pure relaxation holiday in Austria is recommended to visit a spa, where the water (in contrast to the conventional spa hotel) already bubbling with at least bath temperature from the depth. Particularly noteworthy are the Rogner Bad Blumau and the spa Bad Waltersdorf in Styria Thermenland: the deep water fills here not only the pool, it is even used to heat the entire system including hotel self-sufficient. Rogner Bad Blumau, also bearer of the Austrian Ecolabel, designed by Hundertwasser, the water is hot enough at the outlet to generate additional electricity (www.thermenland.at, www.heiltherme.at, www.blumau.com).
Photo / Video: Shutterstock.
