Garda and Innsbruck Explore Tourism Partnership and Cultural Ties
For now, it is a promise of engagement. We will see if it becomes a marriage. There seems to be a real good rapport between Garda and Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol in Austria. Evidence of this was seen during the recent visit paid by the mayor Herwing Van Staa to Garda, welcomed by the town’s colleague from the lakeside town, Davide Bendinelli.
Van Staa and Bendinelli are convinced that mutual collaboration can yield important results, especially in the tourism sector. “It’s true that in terms of population, Innsbruck has little in common with Garda,” noted Bendinelli, “but in terms of tourist arrivals, we are very close. I believe that by working together, our two towns can benefit both economically and socio-culturally.”
Prospects for Tourist Cooperation
“Garda is one of the pearls of the Garda region, and all Tyroleans consider it so,” replied the mayor of Innsbruck, “so it will be important to establish a tourism partnership between our communities.” The idea of a Garda-Innsbruck partnership was championed by an Austrian politician now residing in the Garda area. His name is Rudi Federspiel, a former tourism councilor of the Tyrolean capital and now a city councilor: he has a home in Santa Lucia ai Monti, on the morainic hills south of Garda, where he loves to spend long periods.
It was he who proposed to Bendinelli the partnership idea, which the mayor of Garda eagerly accepted. It’s also clear that Innsbruck views the Italian tourist market with great interest: “Many Italians,” said Van Staa, “already choose our city for their holidays, and our proximity to Lake Garda facilitates intense exchanges.”
Our fellow Italians make up the fourth-largest tourist group in Innsbruck, as revealed by Guido Vianello, representative of the city’s tourism board. Italians also constitute twenty percent of the users of Innsbruck’s Casino, as pointed out by director Hannes Matheowitsch.
“Lake Garda,” adds Vianello, “is particularly important for day tourism, especially during the Christmas markets period.” “But there are almost daily excursions bringing our tourists as far as the Tyrol capital,” observed Giuseppe Lorenzini, president of the hoteliers of the Venetian Riviera of the lake.
Some Dutch tour operators use Innsbruck as a transfer point for buses heading to organized trips to Garda. Logistically, the ties between Lake Garda and Austrian Tyrol are already strong and could be further reinforced if the idea of a twin town agreement actually materializes. This possibility will be revisited in the fall when a Garda delegation visits Austria.
Fostering a potential partnership already blessed by many — including Aleardo Merlin, president of the Provincial Administration, and Marco Zaninelli, commissioner of the Riviera degli Olivi tourism promotion agency, both present at the recent Garda meeting with the Austrian delegation.
