Tourism Fast Forward Mayrhofen

Action instead of reaction

Once a year, tourism operators and people interested in tourism meet at Europahaus Mayrhofen for the Tourism Fast Forward Conference, which focuses on eTourism. But what does fast forward mean? Which hurdles will have to be overcome in the future? Which digital trends await us and how can we counter them? We have asked and found answers to these questions.

General Consensus

The great art is to recognize trends early enough to make them predictable. True to the motto “act instead of react”. We let the protagonists of the Tourism Fast Forward report on how to lead tourism “smart” into the digital future.

Analogue meeting in a digital world

Bernhard Rieder, organiser of the Tourism Fast Forward, has launched the conference 2013. From an initiative on eTourism, the analogue meeting in a digital world was created together with Andreas Lackner, the managing director of the Mayrhofen-Hippach Tourism Board.

“Since then, this meeting has taken place annually in the Zillertal, where you meet active tourism professionals who care about the topic,” says Andreas Lackner. He is convinced that the topic of “sustainability in tourism” affects everyone. His vision of a destination that can be booked online with all its features became reality with the myzillertal.app.

App for Zillertal conference guests

The myzillertal.app will also be very interesting for conference guests at the Europahaus Mayrhofen | Congress Zillertal, Stefanie Thurner, the managing director of the Kongresshaus, is sure: “As in the past, a healthy mixture of analogue and digital is still needed. After all, a congress lives not only from the sessions, but also from the interpersonal relationships that are established around them, which cannot be replaced digitally”.

Strengths vs. weaknesses

Michael Domsalla (KMTO) is considered a pioneer in digital marketing and explains that it requires a completely new model of brand communication. The messages of the 90s have not been received by the public for a long time. It is mainly a matter of addressing regular customers and guests in a self-congruent way in order to create an identification with the brand. Up to now, marketing has focused too much on the strengths of a brand, whereas weaknesses can also make a destination attractive.

Steer, restrict, expand

One keyword is mentioned again and again during the conference: overtourism. Although, according to Kristine Honig (Tourism Future), this can be a positive signal and means that the destination has obviously done something well. The crucial questions are “limit”, “expand” or rather “steer”?

Examples are the promotion of congress tourism in seasons of low demand or the steering of visitors through geo-fencing. This means a mobile tracking service with messaging function. People receive corresponding messages within certain zones and can thus be guided geographically. The potential of being able to avoid traffic jams at large events on the one hand, and highlight less frequented zones on the other, makes it a useful tool for the meetings industry as well.

The nudge theory

The so-called “nudging” is all about gently getting people to do something with conviction, explains Julia Jung from neusta eTourism. This “nudging”, for example, anchors a sustainability trend in the minds of guests by highlighting and pushing the advantages of eAutos. Here it is important to be attentive, with the motto “learning by doing”, to try out a lot in order to understand the underlying rules. Especially in tourism marketing, one should not only think in terms of target groups and channels, but try to understand people and pick up their interest.

Technology & staying human

Regardless of whether virtual or analogue, one thing is clear – we all prefer to move “fast forward” rather than “slow backwards”. And currently we are moving at a rapid pace. In the future, however, technology will continue to be primarily a medium to an end, with the human being and the experience, the general tenor says, continuing to be the focus. Like here in Mayrhofen – where a conference, separated only by a pane of glass from the imposing Zillertal mountains, becomes an experience.

The Tourism Fast Forward conference takes place annually at the Europahaus Mayrhofen | Congress Zillertal. Further information and details about the registration for 2020 HERE.

Further information about myzillertal.app HERE.

With 10 plenary and breakout rooms, the Congress Zillertal offers space for up to 660 people. The team around managing director Stefanie Thurner welcomes you to the “gemstone in front of mountain scenery”!