Luxury of freedom

BIG BERRY PEOPLE

International experience from Wallersee

Isabella is a 27 years old Austrian girl, born and raised in the town of Seekirchen am Wallersee, a few stations away from Salzburg main railway station. She has graduated from Management Center Innsbruck and consequently worked in her motherland as Quality and Marketing assistant for a year. Afterwards she decided it was time for a change. This change was also based on her sister’s experience – studying abroad and broadening her horizons. With this idea, she made the decision to go for a master degree in Tourism Management in the Netherlands. Right now, she is celebrating her graduation by making a tour in south Asia. For us it was intriguing to find out her thoughts about her born place, especially because of her international lifestyle.

Isabella, what is it like to live in such touristic area as this one at Seekirchen am Wallersee?
Actually, It depends – sometimes it is too crowded especially in summer but I am proud to live in a city which is popular with biking, hiking etc. in addition it is important for the city to have tourists because in low season bars are closed and it is really empty if they are not here. They bring the city to life.

How do people have fun there, any specific attraction?
Except of the lake, I would mainly say the farms and small cottages which you can hike or bike to. The area is pretty small and a very few number of things are available to everyone. From a few years on, canoeing is also pretty modern.

Are you locals directly influenced by the tourists? And how?
Oh yes! A lot of jobs, new innovations like the ‚zauberspiele‘, internships from abroad who promote us on international level, getting to know new people as a local

How about the peak season? For sure there are ups and downs during the year.
Peak is during summer and maybe late spring months (dont ask me the specific time frame do not know now haha) but here nearby for instance we have Festspiele, an occasion that brings people together, which is also nice because every local meets each other.

Is the town more lively when the tourism season starts?
Yes as I have mentioned before otherwise shops are often closed or bars and the openings times of supermarkets are average not longer.