People beind convention destination Tirol

People behind the scenes at the convention destination of Tirol

How spirited employees become a passionate team

Tirol is known far beyond its borders for its enthusiastic hosting and authentic hospitality. Convention Tirol partner businesses also embody these values and put them into practice every single day.

We asked around at Tirolean conference hotels, congress centres and event agencies and were touched by all the great stories and tales of solidarity, inquisitiveness and kindness.

We have compiled a few of these stories for you here:

Happy Tawab

“We aspire for quality. We aspire for happiness. What we mean by this, is that we want to make our guests happy with happy employees,” says Sigrid Blumschein, Managing Director of Hotel & Wirtshaus Post. She told us about her “secret sous chef”: “Tawab came to Tirol six years ago as a refugee from Afghanistan. In 2016, he started his apprenticeship as a chef with us, with hardly any German language skills. In 2020, he successfully completed his apprenticeship. He is a great employee and we can’t imagine our team without him.”
We agree 100% with Sigrid Blumschein: Happy people make people happy!

Monday Funday

Margaretha Auer, MICE Sales employee at AREA47, reports: “During the high season, we employ around 160 people from circa 30 different countries. It is often not easy for individual employees to keep track of everything. “To help the international team get to know each other and find out who does what in which departments, they have introduced a regular Monday Funday – by employees for employees.

There are no limits to their creativity, ranging from speed dating (organised by the Booking department) to the Mega Swing Contest (organised by the Climbing Base) or Splash Track races (organised by Water AREA).

It’s nice that this initiative not only ensures stronger team solidarity and an improved perspective, but that is has also generated other positive side effects: for example, organisation of these mini-events has already brought one or two hidden talents to light, or new event ideas have emerged that can in turn be offered to customers. All in all, a great example of a classic win-win situation for everyone!

Footsteps of a long-standing veteran

Franz Gruber worked as an in-house technician at Europahaus Mayrhofen | Congress Zillertal for 39 5/6 years. He took up his post only a few months after the facility first opened in 1979.
Elisabeth Monai, project manager at the very same Congress House, fondly remembers Franz’s humour and his legendary pranks, which were invaluable for maintaining team morale. She too was occasionally on the receiving end of his practical jokes: “My favourite story stems from a while ago, when I was particularly “unhappy” about the arrangements for a ball. Franz secretly photographed my face, flushed with anger, and printed it out life-size. As I’m always the first one in the office in the morning, I jumped backwards out the door in shock, after seeing my angry face on entering the locked office!”

Franz Gruber has spent almost 100,000 working hours of his life during his Europahaus career, looked after around 1 million conference guests and witnessed no less than 8 managing directors.
Together with many of his acquaintances and colleagues, the team celebrated his well-deserved retirement.

 

Menschen im Tagungsland Tirol

United for a good cause

Sustainability has top priority at Innsbruck Convention Bureau (ICB) and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is practised on a daily basis. ICB staff and Innsbruck Tourism are always happy to take part in campaigns to keep their homeland attractive and the alpine-urban destination a pleasant place to live in the long term.

For example, on a Saturday in April 2022, many colleagues got together in their free time and participated in cleaning the banks of the Inn River, “because a clean and attractive cityscape is also part of the 360°Meeting Experience,” says Karin Stark, project manager at ICB.

This kind of valuable work not only keeps the environment clean, but also gives people a chance to experience their own region, while boosting boost team spirit.
All the more reason to give a shout-out for such social and sustainable commitment!

Motivated and ambitious Explorer Buddies

Working at Explorer Hotels means working where others go on holiday. There are no employees here, but Explorer Buddies who – just like the guests – are easy-going and love the relaxed atmosphere. The Explorer family continues to grow, and although there are soon to be 10 locations, communication between everyone involved is the ultimate goal. Without the conventions of an ordinary hotel, team mindset at the communal team breakfast and further development of each individual team member has top priority here.

This is also how Explorer Buddy Angie from the Explorer Hotel Kitzbühel reports on her professional development: “My plans to go to the mountains were already established at the end of 2016. In January 2017, I had a try-out at Explorer Hotel Berchtesgaden, which was like a belated Christmas present for me. My plan was actually to go and work in the mountains for one year. I never dreamt it would turn into more than five. ” She started in housekeeping, switched to service after three years where she advanced to team leader, and is now reception team leader at the Explorer Hotel in Kitzbühel. She is proud of her career and grateful for the great development opportunities provided by Explorer Hotels. Her aspirations continue to flourish: “Only one step is missing now: I want to become a hotel team manager and run my own hotel.

Author
Kathrin Horntrich
Projectmanagement
kathrin.horntrich@convention.tirol

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