Murtinger, Head of Competence Unit Experience Business Transformation, are pleased
about the successful cooperation. Photos: AIT
Under the motto "Sustainability as a permanent guest", the Austrian Tourism Day (ÖTT) took place for the fourth time on 2 May 2023 - for the first time again physically in the Austria Center Vienna. With around 800 participants, a new record number of visitors was achieved.
Together with the AIT Center of Technology Experience, the Innovation Team of the Austrian National Tourist Office presented a completely new XR stand at the Innovation Corner. All visitors were invited to embark on a multi-sensory extended reality journey through Austria. Three destinations were chosen for this: The wintry peak of Wildkogel (2224 m, Kitzbühel Alps Salzburg), the summery Irrsee in the Salzkammergut (Upper Austria) and the spectacular 5fingers viewing platform on Krippenstein (Dachstein Mountains, Upper Austria).
Great potential in tourism
"New technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Extended Reality (XR) open up tremendous opportunities in tourism and offer a very interesting way to immerse oneself in new destinations before travelling, to explore them, to learn about them and to relive the holiday feeling after the trip, independent of place and time," Barbara Prodinger, Innovation Manager of the Austrian National Tourist Office, is convinced.
The XR exhibition stand, which was developed on behalf of and in cooperation with Österreich Werbung, is thus a first prototype from which the entire tourism industry can very well benefit in the future. "We are creating a multi-sensory, highly immersive experience for visitors. Our research is about how new technologies can serve the tourism industry, but also the holidaymakers, and how they can be put to good use," emphasises Markus Murtinger, Head of Unit Experience Business Transformation at the AIT Center for Technology Experience.
Great response to the XR stand
The visitors, the trade visitors, but also celebrities such as Austria's Secretary of State for Tourism Susanne Kraus-Winkler as well as the new Managing Director of Österreich Werbung Astrid Steharnig-Staudinger and Chief Digital Innovation Officer Oliver Csendes were enthusiastic and visibly enjoyed exploring Austria virtually, up close and with all their senses. At the end of the VR tour, all participants received a piece of Salzburg cheese - served virtually on the Krippenstein and bite-sized in real life at the XR trade fair stand.
The media also reported extensively on the event (in German):
https://www.report.at/plus/22221-messestand-der-zukunft
https://newbusiness.at/unternehmen/xr-messestand-der-zukunft
Video review of the Austrian Tourism Day by Österreich Werbung (in German):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnGRARJjS5U
Tip: On Ö1, a radio report on the XR trade fair stand will be broadcast in Digital.Leben (in German) on Wednesday, 17.5.2023, at 4.55 pm.
