The Verkehrsbüro Group, Austria's largest tourism group, is renovating from 2021.

The first visible effects are in the boardroom: The group will in future be managed by the board duo Martin Winkler as chairman of the board and Helga Freund. Helmut Richter will leave the Board of Management on December 31, 2020 and will continue to be available to the company in an advisory capacity on projects until the middle of next year. Richter's agendas will be split up on Freund - in addition to her responsibility for the tourism sector, she will now also be responsible for the business tourism division - and Winkler - he will now also be responsible for corporate law and corporate services.

In the long term, the focus would be on the intensive use of existing strengths and a digitization offensive in all areas - with regard to the ever faster changing, ever more digital and multimedia requirements of customers - as they say. To this end, the Group's expertise in the two major areas of “hospitality” (hotel, camping, Palais Events and Café Central) and “travel” (leisure tourism with Ruefa and Eurotours as well as business tourism) will be bundled. In addition, new business areas are to be developed in the “New Business” area. The Group's brands - such as Austria Trend Hotels, Bassena, Ruefa, Eurotours or Café Central - remain the spearheads towards the outside world.

“We would like to thank Helmut Richter for his many years of service in the group and as a member of the board. We will definitely use his expertise intensively in the coming months of the transformation, ”said CEO Martin Winkler. Chairman of the Supervisory Board Alexander Wolfgring emphasizes: “As a member of the board and department head, Helmut Richter has always acted with passion and loyalty to the company in his activities for the Verkehrsbüro Group. His expertise and his actions in the interests of all stakeholders have always been important pillars for the company - especially in the last few months of the crisis. "