Alexander von der Thannen, TVB chairman Paznaun-Ischgl, wants to continue his concepts after the elections of September 18, and the results have a few exclamation marks. He describes the ingredients for a successful comeback to the “Tiroler Krone”.
Half of Europe – and even more so the Austrians themselves – pointed to the ‘village of sin’ Ischgl in the Corona chaos. Several lockdowns and gloomy moods later, the resurrection has been successful. “Despite all the crises and horror scenarios, we have continued to work hard and strategically,” emphasizes TVB chairman Alexander von der Thannen in the ‘Krone’ interview.
The winter of 2023/2024 was close to the best times before the pandemic with 19,500 overnight stays. Von der Thannen is particularly concerned about this, now that almost 1,500 eligible voters will elect the chairman of the TVB Paznaun-Ischgl for another five years.
Former director Steibl is also participating in the elections
Ironically, the competitor is Andreas Steibl, former director and for many years the ‘face’ of the tourist media of the successful place. According to reports, the election campaign is being conducted with hard tactics, but Thannen prefers to talk about the successes of his term. “There are great projects in the pipeline that I still want to finish,” hopes the entrepreneur and hotelier (Trofana Betriebse). His “large support team” brings together numerous well-known people in the valley.
Be attractive outside of winter too
One of the main focuses is to make Ischgl more attractive outside the winter season. “We have built nine cycle paths with a total length of over 100 kilometres,” he says, referring to huge investments. Specifically, for example, 2.2 million euros for the Silvatrails in Galtür or the expansion of the Silvretta Bike Arena by around 1 million euros.
Sporting events went well
A series of events were organised, such as the “Spring Blanc” in spring and the “Golden Summit” in autumn. There was a big turnout for the Ischgl Ironbike (700 participants), the E-Bike World Championship (1200 entries) and the Ischgl Ultra Trail (800 athletes).
Tourism in Paznaun should operate 300 days a year
Another focus recently has been on digitalisation – with the renewal of the websites or the Ischgl app, which allows all events and experiences to be viewed and booked on mobile phones.
“The overall goal is for tourism in the valley to take place 300 days a year,” says von der Thannen, outlining his plans.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
