A tourism concept is in preparation for the city of Schongau.
An office for tourism and regional advice in Kempten has now been awarded the contract.
A first meeting has already taken place.
Time is pressing: The city council is to decide this year what can and should be implemented.
Schongau – Maximilian Geiger, who has been responsible for tourism and the adult education center in Schongau since September alongside Ursula Diesch, was in charge of preparing the tender for the tourism concept.
In an analysis, the "actual status" of the Lechstadt and "what could be" should be professionally evaluated, with the old town as the focus, as Geiger explains.
With the support of location promoter Tina Birke and city architect Sebastian Dietrich, he compiled the documents for the tender.
Three of the applicants had been invited, and the city council had decided in secret on a tourist office.
What makes Schongau so unique?
That should be worked out
"We want to work out what makes us unique as Schongauer Touristik", describes Geiger.
A first meeting has already taken place.
For a whole day you trudged through Schongau and checked out every single point that could be interesting for tourists - the train station, places within the old town, the individual gates, the city wall, the squares.
"We tried to see Schongau as a tourist, the office has a good view from the outside."
Together with the findings, which are also already laid down in the integrated urban development concept (ISEK), a recommendation for action is to be sent to the city council.
This committee then has everything in hand and decides what is to be implemented.
From the signage to the toilet - many small things have already been noticed
What did you particularly aim for on the first ascent?
"We kept an eye on signs for walkers and cyclists, including the toilets," reveals Geiger.
Another important point is the accessibility of the tourist information, which may not be optimally located in the town hall.
"I see a lot of little things that you can change," says Geiger.
One must pay attention to accessibility.
The revitalization of the area surrounding the city wall with a sun ditch is already being tackled, "a great thing," says Geiger.
You can get a lot more out of one or the other square like Lindenplatz - "there is only one linden tree, it's not a particularly attractive place".
New lighting is also planned for the city wall - but all lights are currently switched off due to cost-cutting measures.
Child-friendly tourism should also be expanded, is the wish of the Schongau tourism director
Overall, he could imagine many more cultural tourism events and the expansion of child-friendly tourism.
There is a clear shortcoming in the area of digitization, where Geiger sees a great need for action: "You can't book any of our city tours online so far, every small museum can do it," he complains.
Tourism concept: "We have set a route so that it can be completed in a timely manner," says Geiger
However, this process should not drag on as long as it did with ISEK, on the contrary: "We have set a course of action so that it can be completed in a timely manner," says Geiger.
There is also a simple reason for this: the subsidies have to be called up this year.
Geiger estimates that the city council could deal with it as early as the summer, "we're a bit pressed for time".
Kornelia Funke, tourism officer on the city council, had already emphasized the importance of the tourism concept in her budget speech.
"We will never be in Füssen or Oberammergau, but we have the potential to develop," emphasizes Funke when asked about the local newspaper (see also text below).
It's always a question of public image - "which isn't easy when there's no money," says Funke, referring to the city's extremely tight coffers at the moment.
Nevertheless, she thinks the tourism concept step is the right one: "Now we've gone so far, now it has to be pursued - it shouldn't be an expert report that lies in the drawer again," says Funke.
Perhaps the city's advertising could also be optimized?
Completely independent of the tourism concept, Maximilian Geiger, head of the tourism and adult education center in the city of Schongau, also wants to actively promote advertising.
For example, VHS lectures would now be posted on Instagram on a trial basis.
"We just tried it out, it's free advertising," says Geiger.
Certainly, however, social media can be used more often and more regularly - which, however, someone has to take care of on an ongoing basis.
Geiger has also used every other opportunity that came his way to vigorously promote Schongau: at the beginning of February, for example, he was together with Andreas Schmid, the deputy managing director at the Pfaffenwinkel Tourist Association, at the "afa", the Augsburg spring exhibition and trade fair for the region.
In December, Geiger went to the Munich Christmas market to advertise what the city of Schongau had to offer at the tourism stand there.
Before that, you had your own stand at the first culture weekend “SOGood” and the citizens were very interested.
"Good advertising is important," says tourism officer Kornelia Funke
Do we perhaps have to reconsider the advertising concept and make visitors more aware of the beautiful old town they are driving past instead of visiting?
"Good advertising is important," says Kornelia Funke, the city of Schongau's tourism officer.
She was also at the Munich Christmas market to present the city of Schongau.
“I was quite surprised at how often we were asked where Schongau was at all,” Funke remembers.
Her insight: “This day brought a lot for me: I noticed that we have to advertise differently.
People don't understand the potential of this city."
Farm and country holidays in the Weilheim-Schongau area are in demand again, says the
farm and country holiday provider association.
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