Hörl is known as a powerful advocate of Tyrolean tourism. So he now forbade a “hit” on the cable cars when it comes to climate protection. Reporting is often “fact-free” and characterized by “one-sidedness”. There has been a lot of reporting about the “white bands” in the ski areas and “unfortunately some things have been exaggerated”. For example, snow machines are repeatedly reported as “energy guzzlers”. “This is despite the fact that the Federal Environment Agency has clearly stated that all slopes are groomed and snowed on a daily basis and that the cable cars consume just 0.33 percent of the country’s total energy requirements,” says Hörl.
“I’m already used to this bashing of my industry. But I wonder why people keep pointing to one of those forms of vacation that causes the least CO2 and has a very gentle ecological footprint – as has been confirmed several times by the Federal Environment Agency. And that with maximum added value ‘at home’ and safeguarding many regional prosperity factors.” At the same time, the industry is considering how to improve the “only weak point” – the arrival and departure of guests.
So that the focus is not always on the CO2 balance of ski tourists, Hörl put forward a proposal: A special tax should be imposed on the advertising of “particularly environmentally harmful forms of vacation” such as air travel, for example for city trips, and cruises, or an advertising ban should be introduced, says Hörl to the APA. He could also imagine providing these “particularly CO2-relevant forms of vacation – “like with tobacco advertising” – with a label and clearly pointing out how environmentally harmful they are.
Labeling for everyone
According to Hörl, the cable cars and local tourism would follow the latter, because: “Then the guests will at least have it in writing how ‘green’ the holiday in the Austrian summer and winter season is.” A corresponding labeling system must be in place for everyone apply that “equal opportunities in the market” are needed.
Hörl also announced that he would raise his demands within the governing coalition in Vienna. He will “talk to the tourism spokeswoman for the green coalition partner, Barbara Neßler,” he said.
Coalition partners skeptical
On Monday, however, this showed little approval of Hörl’s proposals. Although she is pleased that the cable car industry is ready for change, the problems within the industry should not be brushed aside. “Particularly in view of the winter heat wave that we are currently experiencing and the energy crisis, one cannot speak of ‘bashing the industry’ when the media reports on the current problems in the ski areas.”
“The reports with disturbing images of white ribbons in the green field only make it clear that we have a massive problem with winter tourism in Austria because the industry is often still sticking to its old concepts,” said Neßler in a broadcast. Especially in federal states like Tyrol, which is economically dependent on winter tourism, the industry must become fit for the future.
“The cable car lobby in particular should be the biggest climate protector, because the climate crisis is a threat to their existence,” says Neßler. Instead of an advertising ban, she proposed “the establishment of a competence center for tourism”. This should deal with sustainable holiday trends.
Tourists not very enthusiastic
Hörl’s party friend, Secretary of State for Tourism Susanne Kraus-Winkler (ÖVP), was rather skeptical. Both the local tourism industry and the aviation industry are trying to find sustainable solutions, and a lot has already been achieved on both sides. The share of renewable energies in the domestic industry has risen sharply, the airlines are working on approaches to CO2-neutral flying. “Dividing individual industry segments apart is not expedient,” said Kraus-Winkler in a press release.
Vienna’s Tourism Director Norbert Kettner showed understanding for the challenges that the cable car industry is currently having to face. But he was also surprised “that the representative of an industry that itself benefits from air traffic speaks out against it.” Kettner suggested that the discussion on the topic of sustainability should be conducted holistically instead of discrediting individual segments in Austria’s tourism industry.
Trouble in the aviation industry
Of course, sharp criticism came from aviation representatives. The proposal for a ban on advertising for air travel is “neither sensible nor well thought out”, said Günther Ofner, head of aviation at the Chamber of Commerce, “astonished”. In the west of Austria, but especially in Tyrol, winter tourism without tourists arriving by plane is not economically viable.
Ofner was also unable to gain anything from a special tax on the application. “The realization of such discrimination would be a blow to all tourism in Austria.” A special tax has long been a reality in the form of the ticket tax, which has been a burden on air passengers for years.
The aviation umbrella organization also spoke up in a broadcast and spoke of an “imprudent attempt at distraction by Mr. Franz Hörl, after all a member of the National Council and ÖVP spokesman for tourism”. “Tyrolean ski tourism in particular, which Mr Hörl clumsily tries to defend against alternative holiday concepts, depends to a large extent on air traffic and incoming charter flights to Innsbruck,” says Managing Director Peter Malanik. Responding to alleged “bashing” with the same thing against others only shows helplessness.
criticism of the opposition
Political reactions were not long in coming either. Some sharp criticism of Hörl came on Monday from the SPÖ. Hörl once again rumbled with his “cable car populism”, but made little contribution to a serious tourism and climate policy, according to SPÖ tourism spokeswoman Melanie Erasim. “He directs ill-considered legislative requests to the media instead of having serious discussions. But such a communication policy only leads to uncertainty in a crisis-ridden industry.” If Hörl really cares about the climate, “he should work to ensure that his party stops blocking the climate protection law,” says Erasim.
“Prohibition policy a la Hörl is the wrong way and always a sign of poverty,” Tyrol’s FPÖ chairman Markus Abwerzger told the ÖVP politician. Hörl has apparently been “in a coalition with the Greens for too long,” said Abwerzger laconically, to summarize: “Fear-mongering and prohibition policies help neither humanity nor the climate, it takes a sense of proportion and responsibility on the part of each individual, that is liberal climate policy.”
Tyrol’s NEOS boss Dominik Oberhofer also located a “diversionary tactic” by Hörl, which was intended to cover up the “failures of recent years”. “Instead of teaching the world how harmful air travel is to the climate, Franz Hörl, as the top cable car operator, should rather present a concept of what alternatives there should be for Tyrolean tourism in the future.”
