The Day Tourism Task Force will start work before Easter.
Smart traffic management - and a charm offensive are on the agenda.
The task force wants to collect traffic data in real time and thus guide visitors
A communication campaign is in progress
Locals should understand how important day visitors are for the prosperity of the region
District -
The task force that politicians and stakeholders recently set up to tackle the challenges of day tourism in the Alpine districts (we reported) will meet before Easter.
Specifically, it is the visitor management working group that meets.
It is intended to advance a project that the Alpine region of Tegernsee Schliersee (ATS) initiated a year ago: digital traffic control with real-time data.
"The task force offers a new framework for tackling the project on a supraregional level," says Harald Gmeiner, board member of ATS, which is a member of the task force through the Upper Bavarian Tourism Association (TOM).
That is important, after all, traffic jams in the direction of the Alps are not a problem for the Miesbach district: "That also affects the other Alpine districts," says Gmeiner.
Traffic control
The project plans to install sensors on the routes from the Weyarn motorway exit towards Schliersee and from the Holzkirchen motorway exit towards Tegernsee - technical devices that collect traffic data in real time.
This data is then to be combined with weather data and historical traffic data from the past three years to create forecasts.
"Anyone who is thinking about going on a trip to the Oberland on Sunday should then be able to see where and when they are likely to be stuck in a traffic jam," explains Gmeiner.
“Then he can think about whether he will go to another time, another place or take the train.” Gmeiner hopes to be able to equalize the traffic in this way.
The ATS has historical data - it has had cell phone data evaluated over the past three years, which shows when, how many people were in the region and where they come from.
After all, congested roads are nothing new: “In the past five years, day tourism in the region has increased by 17 percent.
We have been dealing with the problem not just since Corona. "
However, it will take a little time before the project becomes concrete: “We have not yet received a funding notification from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs,” says Gmeiner.
How expensive is the project?
“We don't know yet.” Nonetheless, Gmeiner hopes to be able to install the sensors on the streets this year.
This means that digital traffic control is by no means available to users.
“Developing that is very complex,” says Gmeiner.
So far, talks have been held with the Urban Institute - a company that offers technologies for “smart cities”, with Green City from Munich, which is competent in digital traffic control, and with the Fraunhofer Institute.
Who will be awarded the contract will be decided in the context of an invitation to tender.
Until the excursion traffic in the Oberland can be digitally controlled, the existing excursion sticker should provide a remedy.
The instrument developed by ATS, which can be accessed at www.oberbayern.de, now directs traffic throughout Upper Bavaria.
"However, this is a very tedious job because we have to enter the data by hand," explains Gmeiner.
Image campaign
Another project is on fire for the task force: "We are currently planning a communication campaign on social media that should start before the summer," says Gmeiner.
With this charm offensive, those responsible for tourism in the region want to win back day guests who no longer feel welcome due to the unfriendly sign at the Miesbach entrance to the village (we reported).
They also want to convey to locals how important day tourism is for the region.
“It brings quality of life,” says Gmeiner, citing Bayrischzell, which has 1,600 inhabitants and has ski lifts, hiking trails and a swimming pool as an example.
"North of Munich, municipalities of this size don't even have a local supplier."
Tegernseer Tal Tourismus and the location marketing company are on board
The managing director of Tegernseer Tal Tourismus (TTT), Christian Kausch, also finds this topic important: "The impression that there is a dispute between Miesbach and Munich has to go away." Rather, you have to see yourself as a region.
That is why he also likes the new task force made up of TOM, the European Metropolitan Region of Munich (EMM) and the Munich Tourism Initiative (TIM), of which TTT is a member.
“We are facing challenges that also affect other districts.
It is therefore important that communication takes place. "
This is how Alexander Schmid, managing director of the location marketing company, which is a member of EMM, sees it.
"The conflict between town and country is very embarrassing." The task force helps to perceive itself as a region.
They can also help to redirect the flow of visitors, "for example to Burghausen in the Altötting district." There is no fixed rhythm for meetings of the task force.
Also read: Day trippers storm Schliersee and Tegernsee