Academic Statement  

 

 

 

Rejuvenating 

Schladming‐Rohrmoos  

 

 

 

Gerhard Pilz, BA 

1010487014 

 

 

 

 

Management Center Innsbruck 

MCI Tourism 

Weiherburggasse 8, 6020 Innsbruck 

AUSTRIA 

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Rejuvenating Schladming-Rohrmoos

A discussion about Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC)

This paper gives an overview about the current stage within Butler’s Tourism Area

Life Cycle (TALC) model (Butler 1980) for the destination Schladming-Rohrmoos in

Styria, Austria. This essay also provides an outlook on the destination’s possible future

development and shortly discusses the general applicability of the product life cycle

model on tourism destinations.

The TALC of Schladming-Rohrmoos

For defining the current stage in the TALC it is useful to shortly outline the history of

tourism in the destination. Today, the origins of Schladming-Rohrmoos as a tourism

destination are seen in the year 1875 when the Enns valley was first made accessible by

railway (Gemeinde Rohrmoos Untertal 2009, p. 346). 33 years later the founding of

Schladming’s winter sports club marked the beginning of the winter sports destination.

In 1953 finally, the construction of the first ski lift on Planai was another milestone in

the touristic history (Schladming.at 2011). Initially sought by its guests especially

during the summer months for the so-called “Sommerfrische” (Gemeinde Rohrmoos-

Untertal 2009, p. 346), Schladming then developed into a internationally regarded

skiing centre, supported by numerous Ski World Cup events in the 1970s and -80s and

the Ski World Championships in 1982. The 1990s brought a consolidation phase to

the area. Growing competition from other ski resorts during the winter seasons on the

one hand and a lack of investment and innovative spirit by local business owners on

the other hand pressed Schladming in its development.

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Back to the Roots

By the end of the millennium Schladming’s focus got back to its initiator as a tourism

destination – the summer months. Schladming started to broaden its portfolio by

developing new products for the summer months. On the one hand the result was the

creation of new products for hikers and families by introducing “Sommercard” and on

the other hand it meant opening new markets, especially within younger customer

segments and new alpine sports like mountain biking, but also new-school skiing in

winter. Another new segment that is worked on is congress tourism, for which

infrastructure is established within the scope of the FIS Alpine Ski World

Championships 2013 (www.congress-schladming.com). Considering this development

the destination of Schladming-Rohrmoos is clearly in the rejuvenation phase of

Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle. By diversifying products and markets the

destination currently tries to overcome its dependency on traditional customer

segments (hikers and alpine skiers) and markets (German and domestic market –

compare overnight statistics 2000-2009).

Outlook into the Future

Apart from the orientation towards congress and conference tourism the newly

developed products and markets are a clear signal in claiming the expertise of

Schladming-Rohrmoos as a destination for Alpine outdoor sports and families. Hiking

and skiing have always been at the core of the destination and are extended with

additional sports offers and tailor-made products for families. Thus, the combination

of the outdoors and families offers a good opportunity to strengthen the brand

identity as a family destination.

Another chance for further development in Schladming-Rohrmoos would be the

successful handling of sustainability issues. At the moment most Alpine destinations

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that lead the way on this topic and market sustainability to potential guests, do so

because of their beneficial topographic situation. The location at the head of a valley

(e.g. Zermatt) or an other exposed site (e.g. Wengen, Werfenweng, Oberlech) allows

for relatively easy separation regarding topics such as soft mobility (Werfenweng) or

car-free zones (Zermatt). The topics of family and outdoor sports fit very well with

the issue of sustainability, as parents want their children to grow up in a sustained and

healthy environment. If Schladming-Rohrmoos accepts the challenge, the destination

could serve as a role-model for sustainable Alpine tourism that does more than only

ban cars from its roads. This means to provide healthier, but also well-balanced and

sustained (social, natural & economic) environment for the inhabitants.

Conclusion

Ultimately, balance is the answer to the question if the classical product life cycle

model can be applied to a tourism destination. According to the PLC concept a

destination is dying when it faces stagnation or even decline in the number of tourists

visiting (Baum 1998, p. 169). However, the concept ignores an important point. The

stagnation/decline may be true for the tourism aspect of a destination, but it does not

imply the same effect for the destination/region as a whole. In conclusion that means,

it is important to provide for a good balance among the different economic sectors

within a destination/region and also attract non-touristic businesses, because then

decline of tourism will not have such a negative impact on the destination. Therefore,

the classical PLC model has clearly its limits in its application on tourism destinations.

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Sources:

Baum, T. 1998, Taking the Exit Route: Extending the Tourism Area Lifecycle Model,

in: Current Issues in Tourism, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 167-175.

Butler, R. W. 1980, The Concept of a Tourist Area Cycle of Evolution. Canadian

Geographer, Vol. 24, Issue 1, pp. 5-12.

Gemeinde Rohrmoos-Untertal 2009, Natur | Kultur | Menschen: Die Gemeinde Rohrmoos-

Untertal, Gemeinde Rohrmoos-Untertal, Rohrmoos-Untertal.

Schladming.at 2011, Historical Development of the Mining Town Schladming, Online,

Available at:

http://gemeinde.schladming.at/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&

id=2&Itemid=9&lang=en, [accessed 1st May 2011]