"The best ski opening"

Why Schladming is playing in the Champions League

In the Schladming-Dachstein region (right: Tourism Association Managing Director Mathias Schattleitner), things have been on the up recently.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Schladming-Dachstein/Martin Huber, Christian Jauschowetz)

Not only at the ski opening with superstars such as Robbie Williams and Bryan Adams: the Upper Enns Valley - and Schladming in particular - has arrived in the middle of the concert of the greats, says tourism association managing director Mathias Schattleitner. At this altitude, the air is getting thin.

"Krone": The Styrian Chamber of Commerce recently published a study on the added value of Styrian cable car companies. "Without them, some valleys would be in the doldrums," it said. Is it really that dramatic?
Mathias Schattleitner: Without tourism, some valleys would really be in the dark. In Styria, industry often plays a major role, but in the Upper Enns Valley - as in Salzburg and Tyrol - tourism is much more important. We had our own value creation study last year: the annual stimulus for the economy amounted to one billion euros.