News from the Alpe-Adria-Trail

Since the birth of the Alpe-Adria-Trail, the Trail Angels have accompanied and looked after this flagship in sustainable tourism. And in the most diverse functions. This blog therefore offers a condensed update on the work of the Trail Angels and the latest developments on the Alpe-Adria-Trail.

Multitasking on the Alpe-Adria-Trail
The development of the Trail Angels has always been closely linked to that of the Alpe-Adria-Trail. So it is not surprising that the Trail Angels have taken on various tasks and responsibilities for this so wonderful project and example of responsible tourism. This has been done on behalf of Carinthia Tourist Board or its partners in Italy and Slovenia, but also on their own initiative. An initiative that could not slow us down even in spite of the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. So we can claim that the Alpe-Adria-Trail has so far come through two pandemic seasons very well and we can deliver a positive midterm balance.

Official Alpe-Adria-Trail Info and Booking Center
Currently, the Trail Angels are in the middle of the current license utilization period for the operation of the Official Alpe-Adria-Trail Info and Booking Center (2020 – 2022). Although the Alpe-Adria-Trail as an international long-distance hiking product – in 2019 we were able to welcome guests from 28 different nations – was particularly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing numbers of guests are already being recorded again in summer 2021. This applies to individual guests as well as our B2B partners in the specialty tour operator sector. Unfortunately, all dates with National Geographic Expeditions Corona had to be canceled again, but here all dates for the hiking season 2022 are already fully booked, which makes us very happy.

Proven, professional and, as the ratings on Trust Pilot prove, extremely appreciated by guests: The Official Alpe-Adria-Trail Booking Center, powered by Trail Angels © Trail Angels

INTERREG Project Management
Our project management for the bilateral INTERREG project Alpe Adria Trails’s Tale is slowly coming to an end. In the process, we managed to bring the project module with the feasibility study for “Innovative forms of accommodation on the Alpe Adria Trail” into implementation, which brings us directly to the next chapter,

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Innovative forms of accommodation
For the implementation of so-called “Wood Cubes” along the Alpe-Adria-Trail, a separate GmbH, the Carinthian Trail Infrastructure GmbH was founded. Under the leadership of the Trail Angels, the Carinthian Tourism Award for Lighthouse Projects was then won in 2019, which provided a financial impulse for the construction of “Wood Cubes” and the adaptation of our trail booking and management system Bookyourtrail®. In the meantime, several Wood Cubes have already been installed (e.g. in Großkirchheim and at Lake Ossiach).

Innovative forms of accommodation on the Alpe-Adria-Trail: With the integration of Wood Cube mini-houses into the Trail Angels service chain, new perspectives are opening up for long-distance hiking trails. © Trail Angels

Software client for Alpe-Adria-Trail booking center
The system integration of our trail booking and management system Bookyourtrail® in the form of an own software client for the Official Alpe-Adria-Trail Booking Center Slovenia in Bovec has proven absolutely successful. The dedicated Slovenian booking center team benefits from the continuous development of our unique system.

Trail Maintenance Management Plan
Three exceptional late autumn and early winter severe weather events in a row (2018 – 2020) have taken a heavy toll on the trail system of the Alpe-Adria-Trail and posed huge challenges to the responsible trail teams. Therefore, we have developed a so-called Trail Maintenance Management Plan in close coordination with the Carinthia Tourist Board, which is intended to ensure both the long-term maintenance of the trail, as well as the short-term repair or rerouting in the event of trail damage due to severe weather events.

The increasingly noticeable effects of climate change pose ever greater challenges for the preservation and maintenance of long-distance hiking trails. Trail renovation by the Austrian Alpine Association on the Alpe Adria Trail © Peter Angermann

Outlook
What are we proud of? That with the Alpe-Adria-Trail we have succeeded in proving the success of responsible tourism. Because if responsible tourism is also economically sustainable, it will point the way to the future of travel without alternatives. We will continue to make our contribution to this. For example, in product development for CO2 neutral hiking products. We will continue to report about this and many other news on the Alpe-Adria-Trail in the future!

Links:

+   Booking-Landingpage on Bookyourtrail®

+   The project at a glance

+   Official Trail Webseite

+   Hut hiking on the Alpe-Adria-Trail

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