Success inspires: the positive experiences with the Trail Angels projects ‘Hohe Tauern Panorama Trail’ and ‘Salzburger Almenweg’ have inspired the tourism experts in the Gastein Valley to further develop ‘their’ already existing Gastein Trail into a bookable long-distance hiking trail product.

The Gastein Trail is a varied multi day hiking trail, the route of which resembles a horseshoe, circling the Gastein Valley on panoramic high-altitude paths, to allow hikers to immerse themselves in the thermal worlds of its famous spas Bad Gastein and Bad Hofgastein for a well-deserved grand finale.
Although the Gastein Trail has enjoyed great popularity for years, it has so far only been possible to offer bookable hiking products in a limited way. There was simply a lack of available resources. So it was a good thing that the valley’s tourism experts came into contact with Trail Angels projects twice: Firstly, the highly successful Hohe Tauern Panorama Trail of the Hohe Tauern National Park holiday region was extended from Pinzgau via the Gastein Valley to Hüttschlag. And then, on the initiative of SalzburgerLand Tourismus, the famous Salzburger Almenweg, which also encircles the Gastein Valley, was made bookable.

Immerse yourself in the slow pace of life of the secluded high alpine pastures against the breathtaking backdrop of the three-thousand-metre peaks in the Hohe Tauern National Park – this is another way to sum up the hiking experience on the Gastein Trail! ©Gasteinertal Tourismus GmbH

A great team of clients!

So what could be more obvious than to transfer the success of these two supra-regional long-distance hiking trails to the valley’s own hiking product? To this end, a separate working group was formed consisting of project coordinator Marlene Gruber (Bad Hofgastein Spa and Tourism Association), Theresa Gschwandtner (Bad Gastein Spa and Tourism Association), Alexandra Portenkirchner (Dorfgastein Tourism Association) and xyxyx (XXYXYXY) for marketing, enhanced by the Trail Angels as experts to deliver the following work package:

• Planning and scouting for an adapted route in accordance with the specifications of the European Package Travel Directive
• Product development (from the core product architecture ‘bookable stage’ to dynamic packaging)
• Product integration (integration of regional service partners as well as the design of a booking landing page on www.bookyourtrail.com up to the ‘Ready for Booking’ status)
• Establishment of an ‘Official Gastein Trail information and booking centre

… as well as with the enchanting silence of the high mountain nature of the Hohe Tauern National Park. Whether you want to tackle the entire trail, relax in the spas or soar high above the clouds, far away from the valleys: on the Gastein Trail, everyone can decide for themselves. ©Gasteinertal Tourismus GmbH, Michael Königshofer

When people work together with enthusiasm and a high level of expertise, the result is usually something very good. Together, we have succeeded in ensuring that the Gastein Trail shines in new splendour in record time and can already be booked for the 2025 hiking season. We would like to say a big thank you for this and are already looking forward to a successful and accident-free first hiking summer!

Most important links:

booking landing page of the Gastein Trail

official trail website of the Gastein Trail

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