Carinthia’s-first-international-working-conference-on-the-future-of-mountain-huts-executive-summary

On April 27, 2024, Carinthia’s first international working conference on the future of mountain huts was convened by the Villach Regional Tourism Office, ARCH Europe, and ARCH International.

The all-day closed meeting, which took place in the conference rooms of the Hoteldorf Schönleitn, brought together a wide range of experts and stakeholders. In 10-minute impulse talks, the speakers addressed the historical context, the most pressing issues from environmental challenges to staffing shortages, emerging tourism strategies, and the cutting edge technological advances that are making it possible to strike a balance between a more diverse and demanding public, and the focus on sustainability and environmental protection.

After the plenary session, participants met in breakout groups for deeper discussion and brainstorming. The proceedings of both will be published.

The experts came from Austria, Germany, Slovenia, South Tyrol, and the USA. Recommendations include the development of dynamic hut concepts tailored to different visitor groups and their respective needs and expectations; digital solutions for low-traffic periods; careful consideration of environmental factors in construction.

The regional head of the Austrian Alpine Association expressed support for the reconstruction of a particularly iconic historic hut, the Annahütte. On the border between Slovenia and Austria, it had both societal value as a cross-border meeting place for formerly antagonistic ethnic and national groups, while also being a “missing link” in an otherwise underserved spot along popular and important hiking and climbing routes. The breakout groups subsequently endorsed the recommendation that it should be rebuilt.

As next steps, the three organizers proposed a focus on creating a typology of mountain lodges in accord with their respective visitor groups, followed by notional blueprints on the size, design, facility management and technologies (for energy, water, waste management and supply logistics) to be employed.

A continuation of this conference on an annual basis is envisioned, with focused research to be conducted in the interim.

ARCH International & ARCH Europe