Marketing Review

Of course, our tried-and-true marketing mix ensured that the Seefeld region remained highly visible throughout the winter. At the beginning of the season, our new guest magazine Obenauf was released in its winter edition and once again impressed with its mix of stories and information.

As in every season, we were part of the ÖW Three-Country Campaign (Switzerland, Belgium & the Netherlands) and also belonged to the special campaign in the cross-country skiing sector. We were, of course, a key participant in the winter promotion for Austria's hiking villages as one of the leading regions for winter hiking. On the platforms Bergfex and komoot, we ran Special Interest Ads to directly reach our target audiences.

Our employees were also on the road to present Tyrol's high plateau and gain market insights. Thus, Janina Sauer traveled to the Netherlands in early winter together with the Austrian National Tourist Office. She was also part of the exchange meetings with Austria's hiking villages and traveled in late winter to Zurich with the Austrian National Tourist Office.

In January and February, we enabled our partner hotels to visit some relevant golf fairs to be well-prepared for an early season start on the fairway and green.

Internally, we used every beautiful winter day for photo and film shoots. Our photo and video producer Andreas Lienert and photo and film coordinator Tessa Melliger put a lot of thought into how we could better present the region and our core themes. For our new target group of families seeking relaxation, we held two very nice family shoots, where everyone involved had a lot of fun, as can be beautifully seen in the resulting images. In December, the focus was on family vacations in general, featuring tobogganing, swimming, alpaca hiking, Advent, and fun in the snow. In late winter, we concentrated on the theme cross-country skiing with three generations.

Throughout the entire winter, we were visited by numerous journalists, and just as many stories have been published that were created last year. The main topics aligned with our success patterns and target groups: Winter hiking, cross-country skiing, family winter holidays, and the niche topic of holidays with dogs. There was also great media interest in our newly developed high-altitude ski trail. However, the visits scheduled for the second half of winter had to be postponed to the upcoming season due to the snow conditions. The product definitely hits the mark.

Particularly great articles included the travel report published at the beginning of winter in the British Guardian by well-known travel journalist Hilary Bradt, as well as the extensive report on winter hiking in the FAZ by Volker Mehnert. The winter hiking specials in the Oberösterreichischen Nachrichten and Outdoor Welten achieved great reach, as did the cross-country skiing reports in DONNA Magazine, Tagesspiegel, and in the Nordic supplement of the ski magazine.

Especially in the social media sector, we benefitted this year from the Olympic Games: Not from those in Milano Cortina 2026, but also from the 50th anniversary of the 1976 games in Innsbruck and Seefeld.

Numerous national teams from cross-country skiing and Nordic combined came to us for Olympic preparation, and not only did we document this on various channels, but they themselves did as well. The greatest reach was likely achieved by both Norwegians Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and Emil Iversen, who shared perfect pictures of their time in Leutasch.

The American Courtney Dauwalter, the grande dame of the ultra-trail running scene, showcased her experiences as a torchbearer in Italy in combination with a cross-country stay on Tyrol's high plateau. Her compatriot Sheila Young celebrated her personal Olympic anniversary in Seefeld. The speed skater won a complete set of medals in 1976.

Lastly, the Deaflympics are also part of the Olympic movement. Their first winter edition in 1949 took place in Seefeld and will return in 2027. Here too, we were sure to have media interest during the preparation, and this will certainly continue in the upcoming season.

The importance of AI continues to grow in 2026. Especially in terms of click rates, searches, and recommendations, AI-optimized websites are increasingly replacing traditional SEO. Our IT expert Christian Lackner has been intensively focused on this topic since the beginning and always keeps an eye on how the region and our marketing activities in this area are developing. With the help of the ADVI (AI Destination Visibility Index), he regularly checks how well Tyrol's high plateau is discoverable and how often it is recommended.

Our visibility is good to very good in all areas. In terms of recommendation rates in winter, we stand out particularly in our two core themes of winter hiking and cross-country skiing with remarkably high values. This can surely also be attributed to our two generic sites www.langlaufen.at and www.winterwandern.at. While we have been successfully operating the former for several years, the latter was established and developed last winter.

Last but not least, the marketing significance of the events in the region should be emphasized. We are not just establishing a good name for ourselves as an event location; during renowned events, the region and its offerings are consistently communicated.

For instance, the major international SpaCamp in autumn 2025 already attracted significant attention from the high-end audience. Even more interest and a broader target group were drawn by the European Media Summit in December 2025. The event, which annually brings together high-profile international politicians, speakers, and media representatives, has found its new home with us. The next edition is scheduled for December 2026; a special edition is already planned for May 21, 2026.

Our winter events are specifically tailored to our target groups, ranging from the Nordic Combined Triple to the Ganghoferlauf. Similar reach, coupled with an even more direct engagement with current and future guests, was achieved this year with the Red Bull Bergwelten Nordic Experience and the Löffler Wintertrail. Both events successfully combined sports, tourism, media, and business. Furthermore, they were deliberately held in the Arena365 to promote it.

In thethree-day Nordic Experience, the focus was clearly on marketing. It was a great success; companies and participants were enthusiastic. A continuation of the project in collaboration with the Bergwelten brand from Red Bull Media House and the involved sports firms is already under way. Through high-quality editorial coverage, new cross-country skiers are effectively reached and the region is perfectly promoted.