Austria benefits from mountains and lakes and a culture of hospitality that has been well maintained and developed over decades. But more and more people are worried about sell-outs and alienation in their own country. Experts at the International Tourism Forum Villach, which takes place on June 5 in the afternoon at the Hotel Holiday Inn, discuss how land and people can be gained for new concepts and awareness of the proper use of their own resources. Registration: tourismusinformation.stadt@villach.at Real Estate and Land Use: Who owns Austria? 2 to 3:30 pm: Added value and quality of life In many respects, it is about the question of what is more important to us: more added value or quality of life, exaggeratedly formulated “Money or Life: What Does Our Identity Cost?” The geographer and tourism researcher Nadine Scharfenort from Freie Universitaet Berlin will explain how both can be reconciled using examples. Afterwards, a panel of experts will discuss what needs to be done in land and transport planning, regional planning and also in agriculture in order to preserve the uniqueness of the country, its culture and its resources. The social scientist Brigitte Kratzwald, the space researcher Gerlind Weber, Karin Schabus of “Farm Holidays” and the Villach tourism director Georg Overs are also present. Foreign home: How far can tourism go? 4 to 5.30: Cultural preservation and habitat In the second part of the afternoon, the highly acclaimed Tyrolean folklorist, author and philosopher Elsbeth Wallnöfer will talk about ways and means of preserving one’s home and home feeling without obstructing the future of tourism. If the home is foreign and culture and nature are just goods, then it is important to act, urge even travel professionals such as Peter Zellmann, Manfred Kohl and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT), Josef Plank. How to deal with the central issues of authenticity and identity in tourism is not just a topic of the “Friends of Nature International”, which is represented by Katrin Karschat.
