Gesäuse Tourist Association
For you and our guests
First, the dry facts: The Gesäuse Tourism Association is a public corporation established by the province of Styria and comprises its nine member municipalities and businesses directly (accommodation and catering) or indirectly affected by tourism. It is subject to the rules of the Styrian Tourism Act and is a democratically regulated entity. This was reformed in 2021: the Gesäuse Tourism Association became one of 11 Styrian adventure regions.
Tourism in the Gesäuse
From a tourism perspective, the Gesäuse region can look back on a very long and successful history. This is mainly due to its early development with the railway around the 1870s. During the interwar period, Admont had more overnight stays than Kitzbühel and, together with its surroundings, was one of the early centres of Alpine tourism. After the Second World War, this status was gradually lost due to a lack of investment, and the region lost around 70% of its overnight stays by 2014. In 2002, the Gesäuse National Park was established, which somewhat mitigated the dramatic decline.
In 2015, the course was set for a new beginning: the entire brand image and business management were revamped. This was followed by the hoped-for upturn with more overnight stays in the region and awards for the association's new marketing.
On 1 October 2021, the Styrian tourism structural reform came into force, merging the 96 tourism associations in Styria into 11 adventure regions. Since then, the municipalities of Gaishorn am See, Lassing, Liezen and Rottenmann have been added to the new Gesäuse tourism region. Since the merger and the resulting new synergies in the region, Gesäuse has recorded one of the strongest growth rates in tourism in the whole of Styria. Always with an eye on its own values and without selling out the region!
In addition to its rich cultural offerings, Gesäuse tourism focuses primarily on nature and landscape: mountain sports and adventures on the Salza and Enns rivers are the main reasons for holidaying in Gesäuse, accounting for over 90% of all overnight stays. It is also exciting that our 12 mountain huts are the establishments with the highest number of overnight stays in the region! The transition to the new Greater Gesäuse Region is not yet complete: together with all other local players, the tourism association works daily on the sustainable development of the region. Always with the active support of local businesses and the population. Because without its people, the Gesäuse is just a beautiful – but empty – shell!
