Local Tourism Boards
Local Tourism Boards play an important role in the tourism industry of the region. Currently, there are 81 Tourism Boards, whereby the number is decreasing due to merging operations.
Tourism Boards in South Tyrol are organised under private law, regulated by regional law and they can have the legal form of a board or co-op. The members of Tourism Boards are mainly commercial and non-commercial accommodation businesses, but also cable car associations, ski schools, alpine guides and ski guides, service providers, manufacturers and merchants.
The Tourism Board main tasks are the following:
- information and service point for tourists, inclusive of organisation of touristic services and bookings
- collecting data and the electronic data entry of all tourism-relevant information
- promoting and organising events and other initiatives mainly in the field of tourism
- marketing initiatives in cooperation with the holiday regions
- maintenance of the villages and infrastructures
- preserving the appraisal for the environmental, artistic and historic heritage
- promoting and managing structures and services that are of importance for tourism (e.g. hiking and cycling paths, cross-country tracks, toboggan runs, etc.)
- main contact for and link between accommodation businesses
- responsible for guest care and animation
- complaints management
- securing a tourism-friendly development of the village (overall appearance)
- coordination of the different offers
- local product development.
The biggest problem of South Tyrolean Tourism Boards is the fact that the membership is voluntary which results in insufficient financial support and a continuous fight for the payment of the yearly membership fees. After the abolishment of visitor's taxes in Italy, South Tyrol has to work in the direction of an obligatory membership fee and the introduction of fair tourism taxes, whereby all businesses and people who profit from tourism have to give their contribution depending on size and closeness to tourism!
