The GTI meeting traditionally held in Reifnitz am Wörthersee cannot take place this year. The local council has decided that they no longer want the event. This has significant consequences for hoteliers and other tourist businesses, as income from around 200.000 visitors is lost.
Although the GTI meeting has been in the crossfire of criticism for many years, they did not want to forego the participants' money. This year everything is different, because the decision-makers in the municipality of Maria Wörth, to which Reifnitz belongs, have canceled the event. They no longer want car fans in the community. There has been too much trouble over decades.
But that doesn't mean the end of the traditional GTI meeting. This was relocated to Wolfsburg, the home town of the Volkswagen Group. This is causing criticism among entrepreneurs because hoteliers, restaurateurs, retailers and tourist businesses in Carinthia would miss out on the income from around 200.000 visitors. In this context, the political decision-makers are heavily criticized because they allowed themselves to be influenced by a few complaining neighbors.
It is also emphasized that these are extremely loyal customers who have reliably ensured that the hotels are well occupied for many years. A mayor of a neighboring community complained to the Kronen Zeitung that the economically important event had been canceled and that the entire region would suffer financial damage as a result. It is not yet possible to quantify this, but he does not have high hopes that there would be good capacity utilization and therefore considerable income even without the GTI meeting.
The ban on the event also has consequences: numerous seasonal accommodation providers on Lake Faaker See only open a month later than usual. This is done for economic reasons because without the GTI meeting there would not be sufficient demand at this time of year. The criticism of the “expulsion” of the event is therefore very strong. In any case, the GTI meeting is scheduled to take place in Wolfsburg between July 26th and 28th, 2024.
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