Sawt Falasteen - Austria pivots towards mountain bike tourism as Alps warm

Leogang-Saalbach is one of many Alpine resorts betting on warm weather activities, as rising temperatures and dwindling snow have pushed Austria to invest in alternatives to winter sports.

Bikers from all over Europe are flocking to the Salzburg region in western Austria to race down the steep slopes.

"It's just fantastic. Such kind of mountains and slopes, we just don't have them" in Estonia, 51-year-old mountain biker Jonas Ritson said of his home nation before hitting a downhill trail.

Since the pandemic, the economic significance of summer seasons has "slightly outweighed" winter seasons in the country, said Oliver Fritz, senior economist at the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO).

Traditionally summer and winter have both been responsible for about half of the tourist industry's annual revenue.

But following the pandemic, the percentage has tipped toward summer, with the warm season in 2023 bringing in over half of the 29.5 billion euros ($31.9 billion) the industry generated, Fritz added.

Bikers have also become the second largest group of summer tourists in Austria after hikers, according to a survey, rising from 22 percent before the pandemic to 27 percent in 2023.

- 'Long overdue' -

According to a joint report by the weather services of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, last year's winter season in the Alps was "characterised by exceptionally mild temperatures", marking the second-warmest winter in Austria since records began in 1851.

Less snowy winters have threatened the existence of Austria's famed ski resorts.

"Climate change has caused tourist destinations to rethink and pick up on trends, such as mountain biking," said Martin Schnitzer, a sports economist at the University of Innsbruck.

Austria's government is aiming to meet the rising demand for legal mountain bike trails by formulating a plan to sign more contracts with landowners including forest owners, who currently restrict access.

Austria's rules, formulated nearly 50 years ago, include a default ban on biking across land unless the owner gives explicit approval.

Developing a nationwide strategy is "long overdue", economist Schnitzer said.

Bikers can be fined up to 730 euros (about $800) for trespassing, but there have been disputes where claims have ballooned to "several thousand euros", said Rene Sendlhofer-Schag of Austria's Alpine Club, which is involved in the strategy.

"There is no other country across the Alps, if not in Europe, where a sport is sweepingly excluded in such a manner," he said.

- 'Tolerable coexistence' -

The government will look to resorts like Leogang-Saalbach that have managed to become an all-year-round destination.

Its famous bike park -- which regularly hosts mountain biking world cup races -- was the first of its kind in Austria when it was established in 2001.

Austria hosts more than two dozen bike parks and trail centres.

But reaching an agreement with several local landowners was necessary to make the park happen, Kornel Grundner, managing director of the resort's network of mountain cable cars, told AFP.

And the foresight seems to have paid off.

Over the last 10 years the bike park has seen an increase of almost "70 percent in terms of first-time visitors" to 260,000 last year, 53-year-old Grundner said.

Economist Fritz hopes the government strategy will provide a much-needed framework "to ensure the tolerable coexistence" of all parties.

"Mountain biking brings with it a lot of potential for conflict, since landowners, forestry, hunters and hikers are not always happy with bikers," he said.

A conflict well known to Swiss biker Isabella Hummel, who was visiting Leogang.

Like Austria, "there is the same problem in some cantons" in Switzerland where mountain bikers are frowned upon, the 33-year-old told AFP.

D.Qudsi--SF-PST