
News & Stories

Kitzbuehel/Seefeld. In the two renowned winter sport resorts of Kitzbuehel and Seefeld, ambitious plans for stimulating the local congress business have failed - or at least been shelved for the time being. The reasons are similar. Not only does Kitzbuehel, the city of chamois, lack the funding. But it also lacks space. The only chance would be to use the conversion of the economic chamber's building which is perfectly located next to the base station of the famous Hahnenkamm slope. Even Seefeld "only" renovates existing capacities.

Frankfurt. Based on extensive opinion surveys of both regular guests and potentially new clientele, it’s been in the pipeline for over a year. Now, in November, the new concept for Steigenberger’s resorts will be launched.

Hamburg. In the meantime, major companies have acquired a grasp of their business travel cost. But in the case of events, the situation is a lot different: here, most people do not even know how many events of what volume are conducted by what department per year. The two credit card companies of AirPlus and American Express promise to clear up this data chaos and simplify financial transactions with their "meeting cards" they introduced on the market in 2005.
Dubai. In the midst of the beautiful and the rich: From 29th November to 1st December, the "Emirates Millionaire Show" - hyped as "the most exclusive lifestyle and luxury trade fair in the world" - will take place in the Arabian boom city, Dubai.


Munich. Expo Real, the 10th International Commercial Property Exposition, is expanding the range of services it provides for visitors. Before entering the fair ground they can search the database of participants, book meeting rooms and plan for the hotel shuttles. The "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" will take place on the first day, October 8th.

Alpbach. For 63 years, the "European Forum Alpbach" has dominated the business of the Austrian village of Alpbach near Innsbruck. In these two and a half weeks, 2,800 politicians, scientists, representatives of the economy and the media from 48 countries have met again in the village's congress centre. However, the centre is the sole modern spot of architecture in the village, whose charm is made up of the old, brown wooden houses. Alpbach has a rustic and original character - which is part of the "congress village's" success. Now, the management of the congress centre has announced the fourth record year in a row. It is chiefly German companies that have discovered Alpbach as a paradise for meetings.
Rome. Bernabò Bocca, the re-elected 43-year-old President of the Italian hotel association demands that his country's policy react more sensitively to tourism and the hotel industry. After all, this industry generates 140 billion euros for Italy and employs two million people. Bocca pleads for more competition in tourism.

Mittersill. Austria's oldest national park, and at the same time the largest of the Eastern Alps, opened up a nearly ten-million-euro "Edutainment Center", based on the subject of nature, last Saturday. This new, weather-independent, whole-year attraction has been built to attract 70,000 visitors and, in doing so, to support the regional hotel industry. Hitherto numbers prove: Holidays revolving around nature and subject-specific offers have enormous potential.
