Garda Considers New Twinning with Innsbruck, Austria Development

The discussions about twinning are back. While the connection with the Bavarian center of Beilngries seems to have cooled, a new, prestigious potential partnership has emerged: with Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol, Austria, with a population of 120,000.

And this idea appears to be based on solid grounds, as the officials of the Tyrolean city will be in Garda on Saturday, July 28. “Yes, we are working on a collaboration with Innsbruck,” confirms Davide Bendinelli, the mayor.

“We aim to develop this partnership,” the mayor continues, “as a strategic choice for our tourism. Innsbruck is on the main transportation axis for tourist flows heading to Italy. It is very close to Garda in terms of accommodation capacities: although it is a larger town than ours, it has about one million six hundred thousand annual visitors, while Garda receives around one million two hundred thousand.”

Furthermore, Innsbruck offers a complementary experience to ours. We believe Garda can offer a lot to Innsbruck, but equally, this beautiful Austrian town can provide us with opportunities.” As mentioned, on July 28, a delegation from the Tyrolean capital will be in Garda.

A promotional space will be opened on the lakefront, in Largo Pisanello; a large hot air balloon will mark the spot. Tasting sessions of Austrian traditional products will be held, and Tirolian folk music will be played. The mayor and other officials from the Austrian city will attend.

Along with them, Rudi Federspiel, the city councilor responsible for the current contacts, will be present. Federspiel owns a house near Valeggio sul Mincio and is therefore very familiar with Garda. He attended a meeting held a couple of months ago between the Austrian municipality and the Verona provincial administration, during which Davide Bendinelli, as is known, holds the position of tourism assessor.

During that occasion, a partnership with Garda was also discussed. There is already a plan for an initial phase of rapprochement between Innsbruck and Garda: in December, the Tyrolean officials will host their colleagues from Garda, who will hold a press conference to present the lake region’s tourist offerings.

And perhaps, some developments might also come in view of the upcoming Christmas event among the olive trees. While the idea of an Austro-Garda twinning is gaining traction, the contacts with the Bavarian town of Beilngries seem to have cooled somewhat.

The possibility of a twinning was first proposed by the previous administration led by Giorgio Comencini. Reciprocal visits took place, and promises of collaboration were made.

“For now,” says Bendinelli on this matter, “the possibility of a twinning is on hold, although I cannot exclude that it might bear fruit in the future. There are tourist locations that have established twinning agreements with more than one foreign entity, so it’s not out of the question that we might also consider the Bavarian option. We will need to evaluate carefully, though right now our priority remains Innsbruck.”