It’s TIME for a change of perspective. Under this motto, the first future forum took place at Sportberg Goldeck, to which the Millstätter See – Bad Kleinkirchheim – Nockberge tourism region and the Nockregion Upper Carinthia invited. The event with around 150 invited guests once again expressed that the interconnected cooperation between tourism and regional development means the future in order to keep the infrastructure in rural areas livable for everyone. Stefan BrandlehnerManaging Director of MBN Tourismusmanagement GmbH, and Christine SitterManaging Director of the Nockregion Upper Carinthia, emphasized how important it is to think outside the box. Christine Sitter: “Nobody is an island. One doesn’t work without the other. It takes collaborations that are characterized by trust and mutual respect.
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Valuable collaborations
In February 2024, both organizations moved under one roof and launched the “Competence Center for Regional Development” in Radenthein. For Stefan Brandlehner, this is an important step towards joint living space design: “With the Nockregion Upper Carinthia we have competent partners to shape our working and living space with tourism.
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State Tourism Council Sebastian Schuschnig praised the region’s willingness to go the “extra mile”, which is shown by the successful merger of three tourism regions into one: “The region is a best practice example of how this can be achieved. We shouldn’t be afraid of change. Our aim in tourism must be to remain competitive. To do this you have to show courage and act instead of discussing.”
TIME for my TIME
As part of the Future Forum, the tourism region presented its new brand strategy, which was developed together with many stakeholders in a two-year process – building on the existing strategy concepts. The service promise: “TIME for my TIME” for guests, employees in tourism and for all residents of the region. Stefan Brandlehner: “During the strategy process, we asked ourselves what message we wanted to pass on. Tourism can create valuable moments for people. Therefore, the most valuable gift is valuable TIME.” The strategy process was carried out by Reinhard Lanner (St. Elmos Agency), who also moderated the afternoon. Representative voices who helped shape the strategy process talked about their personal approach to the topic of TIME, including the tourism region supervisory boards Lukas Köfer, Jakob Forstnig, Sigismund Moerisch and Ingrid Gritschacher as well as vacation at the farm chairman Günter Zeilingerwho explained his ZEIT visions to the audience in a lecture. Zeilinger: “TIME is the most important ingredient in the recipe of life. It’s not about faster, further, higher – it’s about slower, more mindful and TIMER. We want to raise awareness of this among guests, companies and the population.”
Keynote Speaker Samuel Koch
The touching highlight of the Future Forum was the keynote speaker’s lecture Samuel Koch. The German actor and author shared with the audience his very personal approach to the topic of TIME. In 2010 he had a serious accident on the television show “Wetten,dass…” that changed his life: three months in intensive care. Since then he has been paralyzed from the neck down. Samuel Koch: “With the accident, all my dreams initially faded. But when I breathed without a tube again for the first time in three months and inhaled mountain air, I felt gratitude and inner peace. Our value is not dependent on performance and usability. Our TIME becomes more valuable the more often we succeed in putting our BEING before our DOING.”
The tourism industry in particular thrives on inspiring other people and giving them the most wonderful TIME of the year – namely vacation TIME. Stefan Brandlehner: “As a recipe for success for the future, I would like us to be passionate about tourism together, follow action with enthusiasm and be courageous for change.”
Afterwards there was time for networking. Also present were the mayor and chairman of the Nockregion Upper Carinthia, Matthias Krenn, Mayor Alexander Thoma, Florian Neuschitzer as a representative of the UNESCO Carinthian Nockberge Biosphere Park, Catherine Heaven (Land of Carinthia), Sandra Fleissner (Kärnten Werbe) and many local tourism professionals, some of whom also spoke on stage on behalf of everyone: Hubert Koller (Kollers Hotel), Michaela Pacher (KAP 463), Anita Unterwalcher (Bio- und Vitalbauernhof Bacherhof), Brigitte Kaplenig (House of Mary).