The tourism centre

Mr. Kohlase
Next stop on our excursion was the “Tourismus-Verband Spreewald e.V.“, the tourism association for the whole economic region of Spreewald. Mr. Kohlase presented the main tasks and the organisational structure of the association.

Founded in 1991 the Tourism Association has 23 members: municipalities, districts, the biosphere reserve, the representation of the Sorbs DOMOWINA, 2 – 3 interested individuals, Spreewald Association, Cottbus Chamber of Industry and Commerce but no private enterprises. Regarding membership fee the districts contribute most, municipalities pay the second biggest share and local tourism offices (financed by the fee of their members) the third biggest.

The annual budget of about 1.3 million Euro per year consists of membership fees, commission from its function as travel agent, subsidies for the travel region and is used for prints, Internet, LEADER, labour creation projects etc. The set-up of the Tourism Association is as follows: Supreme authority is the general assembly of all members, followed by a board. Beside the board there are several subject matter committees dealing with fairs, marketing and printing matters.

One of the major marketing products of the health and activity region is the Cucumber Bicycle Trail of 250 km. It has been existing for five to six years with the aim to link the entire travel region including all municipalities. It has got its own logo (cycling cucumber) in order to market this tourism product.

Gondola tours are another marketing branch. They comprise standard gondola tours, gondolas for scheduled services, evening cruises (sunset tours to enjoy the quietness) as well as gondola tours with classical music at the shore.

For the younger generation canooing is most popular; maps and routes are available at the local tourism offices. But also Nordic Walking and Wellness belong to the marketing products offered by the Tourism Association.

All this together leads to the marketing concept “health and recreation“. The association participates in about 10 tourism fairs per year in Germany aiming to promote the image of the region, to act as travel agent.

Public relations and being in charge of journalists are further duties and tasks undertaken by the association. Beside that internships are provided for students to get practical experience.

It was pointed out that there is no association formed with other travel regions of Brandenburg, the association just maintains cooperation e.g. with Dahme-Spree and Oder-Spree region. The importance of keeping the own product was stressed; otherwise the risk of diluting is high.

Some two million day guests and one million overnight guests are coming yearly. They stay in hotels, pensions and on camping grounds. The area comprises four health resorts and one spa and therefore a health tax was introduced. Visitors who come to the Spreewald want to leave behind computers and telephone and do not expect much luxury. But those who stay on campgrounds demand sanitary facilities, which are provided in top quality.

The picture below shows the webpage of the Spreewald Association, which is also available in English. For more information on the Spreewald and the Spreewald Association please check the following link: www2.spreewald.de