ÖHV President Walter Veit and team re-elected

Walter Veit and his team of experienced and committed hoteliers from all federal states were re-elected with an overwhelming majority at the ÖHV Congress 2024 in Innsbruck: as Vice Presidents Klaus Hofmann (VAMED Vitality World), Alexander Ipp (IPP Hotels, Vienna), Heike Ladurner- Strolz (Hotel Zimba, Schruns) and Sophie Schick (Boutique-Hotel Hauser, Wels), as regional chairwoman Gernot Deutsch (Heiltherme Bad Waltersdorf), Hubert Koller (KOLLERs, Seeboden), Hannes Scheiblauer (Relax Resort Kothmühle, Neuhofen ad Ybbs, Schloss an der Eisenstrasse, Neuhofen) and Barbara Winkler (Hotel Kaiser and Kaiserlodge, Scheffau), as financial officer Manfred Furtner (Wiesenhof, Pertisau ). “The fact that they contribute their knowledge and experience to voluntary work in the ÖHV in addition to their job is not a given and is a real benefit for the industry,” says Veit, thanking his team.

Transformation and location policy as challenges: increasing potential in tourism

Veit wants to see the pandemic years, including travel restrictions and record inflation, put behind him and focus on the future: “Digitalization, financing, sustainability, the labor market and the budget disaster are putting enormous demands on the entire location. Politics and business will have to pull together so that we can get out of the valley again,” says Veit, expressing his expectations of the new government: “The new coalition must repair what its predecessors left behind. Not only the budget, but also the bureaucracy is a huge construction site. Companies urgently need relief.” Tourism could play a key role in getting out of the crisis if we let it: “We bring huge amounts of money into the country from international markets, we invest in the regions, and we are constantly creating new jobs, even in difficult times. And there is still a lot of potential there at the moment. That could be changed. We know how.” As an independent interest group, the ÖHV is always available to the new government with input from practice, Veit noted.

The ÖHV Congress looks ahead

At the ÖHV Congress in Innsbruck until January 24th, with 650 participants from politics, business and the media, the focus will be on the guests of Gen Z: their ideas are already shaping the public debate more than any generation before them. The focus of numerous expert lectures is on future trends: how the guests of tomorrow travel, what they expect from hotels, how AI plays a role in this and how these groups can be targeted.

Further press releases from the ÖHV and images can be found at www.oehv.at/presse