Alpine Pearls, Austria

Winner, 2011 Destination Stewardship Award

The "Alpine Pearls" is a network of Alpine communities focussing on soft mobility in tourism and in collaboration with transnational partners, developing tourism best practices in its member communities. By the end of 2010, the network consisted of 24 Pearls, i.e. Alpine village communities stretching across six Alpine nations and thus making it the largest tourist cooperation in the Alps. With 10 million overnight stays within the Pearls, and an area which experiences severe traffic congestion due to holiday traffic, communities are eager to develop sustainable tourism with the focus on new traffic solutions which contribute to traffic relief.

Operating as a non-profit membership organisation out of Austria, the Alpine Pearls have developed a catalogue of requirements for its member communities including 1) Basic mobility such as journey logistics, mobility in the region and mobility in the Pearls; 2) Fun mobility, such as the "Alpine Flyer" or the Swiss electric bike; 3) Service quality including visitor information; 4) networking and product packaging through cross-collaboration and 5) the promotion of Alpine folklore, culture and cuisine.

The Alpine Pearls not only have mutual partnerships with each other, but also foster strong relationships with national and transnational partners, including German, Swiss and Austrian national train services, Friends of the Earth, the Alpine Convention and industry partners like tour operator Ameropa. These partnerships are geared towards providing sustainable transport solutions as packaged holiday offers.
Each Alpine Pearl member benefits from the pooling of marketing resources and co-ordinated media activities and subscribes to the Alpine Pearls "Check List" for sustainable tourism and soft mobility. Initiatives such as the participation in the European Car-Free-Day have increased awareness of sustainable mobility and climate protection in the Alps.