IT experts in charge of providing two of Austria’s biggest ski resorts have said they are satisfied with tourists’ response to the new offer.
Salzburg’s winter sport resort of Amade and the Sölden glacier region, East Tyrol, as well as several other resorts across the country set up free of charge wireless local area network (WLAN) connections at lift stations and information centres.
The organisers masterminding the projects at Amade and Sölden glacier told the Kurier newspaper today (Thurs) that skiers and snowboarders reacted positively to the opportunity. More than 12,000 holidaymakers logged in with their smartphones and notebooks at Amade so far this month, according to the paper’s report.
Holiday industry experts think that services such as the most recent provision with WLAN internet access are developing into a decisive criterion of people when it comes to choosing their holiday destination. They also underline the various positive effects for the holiday regions if tourists send pictures and texts to friends and families on a regular basis this way.
The number of skiing regions but also summer holiday destinations across Austria considering the introduction of such services is allegedly on the rise despite the need to make financial cuts here and there. Analysts think that most areas eyeing up such investments would eventually go for it due to fears of falling behind in competition with towns and cities which opted for free WLAN services.
Now winter sport regions are working on the introduction of WLAN access on ski lifts and cable cars to attract more fans of multimedia technology. Vienna has been an immensely positive aspect of the domestic tourism sector’s performance in recent years as far as overnight stay records are regarded. However, the city is struggling to catch up with industrialised areas abroad when it comes to providing free of charge WLAN in public places.
Vienna registered 858,000 overnight stays in November 2011, up by 4.9 per cent compared to the same month of 2010. Hotels and guesthouses in the city’s 23 districts will feature 60,000 beds by the end of 2012, according to the Federal Economy Chamber’s (WKO) tourism industry section. Viennese hotels are expected to present a wide range of special Gustav Klimt weekend offers and similar deals to vacationers throughout this year. Many of the city’s museums will host special exhibitions about the famous artist’s life and art in the coming months to mark the 150th birthday of the painter who passed away in 1918.
Meanwhile, People’s Party (ÖVP) Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner said he planned an increase of financial support for Austrian hotels which decided to adapt their facilities for kids. The member of the government coalition of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the conservative ÖVP announced yesterday hotels had the chance for subsidies of up to 10,000 Euros each if they created rooms where young guests could play.
The economy minister also warned that the overall amount of financial support by the state could decline significantly in the coming years due to the coalition’s attempts to economise. The Republic of Austria provides public and private enterprises with more than 15 billion Euros in cash, credits and guarantees each year. This figure helps the country to a leading position in the world considering its comparably low population of around eight million. Experts appealed on the government to review its spending policy as European Union (EU) authorities appeal on member countries to lower their debts.
