Tourism

Applied research at MCI Tourism is concerned with economic problems and issues in the context of (family) businesses, destinations and customers, with a special focus on Alpine tourism. Based on the three levels of consideration of company, destination and customer, detailed research topics can be defined in terms of interdisciplinary areas.

 

Destination Management

What are the key success factors for the competitiveness of a destination? How can the success of destinations be measured?

Sustainable Tourism Development

What is meant by sustainable tourism and regional development? What common challenges and opportunities connect living and recreational areas?

Entrepreneurship & Family Business

What are the biggest challenges for family-owned tourism businesses in the future? What does the optimal business succession process look like?

Consumer behavior & Trends

What will the guest of tomorrow look like? Which trends have a significant influence on the guest's behavior?

Outdoor & Winter Sports

What is the importance of outdoor and winter sports in the alpine region? What are the biggest challenges for the future of winter sports?

Contact
Prof. Mag. Hubert J. Siller | Head of Department & Studies Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Prof. Mag. Hubert J. Siller Head of Department & Studies

If you have any questions regarding this research area, please contact us:
tourism@mci.edu


Prof. Mag. Hubert J. Siller | Head of Department & Studies Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Prof. Mag. Hubert J. Siller Head of Department & Studies
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Mag. Sabine Mertens | Senior Lecturer Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Mag. Sabine Mertens Senior Lecturer +43 512 2070 - 3334
 Janosch Untersteiner, BA MA | Teaching & Research Assistant Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Janosch Untersteiner, BA MA Teaching & Research Assistant +43 512 2070 - 3322
 Jannes Bayer, MA | Senior Lecturer Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Jannes Bayer, MA Senior Lecturer +43 512 2070 - 3325
 Denise Fecker, MSc | Lecturer Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Denise Fecker, MSc Lecturer +43 512 2070 - 3343
 Theresa Mitterer-Leitner, MA | Leave of Absence Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Theresa Mitterer-Leitner, MA Leave of Absence +43 512 2070 - 3326
 Philipp Wegerer, PhD | Lecturer Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Philipp Wegerer, PhD Lecturer +43 512 2070 - 3328
Dr. Birgit Bosio | Lecturer Master's Program Entrepreneurship & Tourism
Dr. Birgit Bosio Lecturer +43 512 2070 - 3327
 Stefanie Haselwanter, BA MA | Teaching & Research Assistant Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Stefanie Haselwanter, BA MA Teaching & Research Assistant +43 512 2070 - 3342
 Monica Nadegger, PhD | Teaching & Research Assistant Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Monica Nadegger, PhD Teaching & Research Assistant +43 512 2070 - 3341
Prof. MMag. Dr. habil. Anita Zehrer | Head of Family Business Center Center for Family Enterprise
Prof. MMag. Dr. habil. Anita Zehrer Head of Family Business Center +43 512 2070 - 7100
Prof. Dr. Christoph Engl | Business Administration | Entrepreneurship Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Prof. Dr. Christoph Engl Business Administration | Entrepreneurship +43 512 2070 - 3331
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Assoc. Prof. MMag. Raphaela Stadler, PhD | Business Administration | Tourism & Eventmanagement Bachelor's program Tourism Business Studies
Assoc. Prof. MMag. Raphaela Stadler, PhD Business Administration | Tourism & Eventmanagement +43 512 2070 - 3332

Tourismus-Satellitenkonto für Tirol TSA
Duration:
2017 - 2020

Project Lead:
FH-Prof. Mag. Hubert J. Siller

Team:
Dr. Mag. Tanja Hörtnagl-Pozzo, MSc MSc

Dr. Birgit Bosio

Description:
Although tourism is one of the most important economic sectors in many countries, its share is not directly represented in the national accounts. The tourism sector must be excluded from the various economic sectors of the national accounts using special procedures. The OECD, UNWTO and EUSTAT have developed special recommendations for these procedures. For the final products, the term TSA Tourism Satellite Account has become established. In Austria, national TSAs have been compiled at regular intervals since 1999 by Statistics Austria in cooperation with the Austrian Institute of Economic Research WIFO. The cooperation of Statistics Austria (Dr. Peter Laimer) shows that the official economic statistics also regard the compilation of TSAs as a component of the national accounts. At the regional level, TSAs have so far been compiled for the provinces of Vienna, Lower Austria and Upper Austria and are also updated periodically. For the Tyrol, there is a tourism value added calculation from 1991 prepared by Tschurtschenthaler together with Lehar; - furthermore, there is a pilot project TSA Tyrol from 2003 prepared by Lehar. Lehar has also worked out a regional tourism satellite account for Vorarlberg with the reference year 2005. TSAs first of all have a high information value in that they show, on the one hand, the distribution of turnover / gross value added among the various service sectors on the other hand the participation of the different demand strata - local and foreign tourists - domestic and foreign day trippers - business travellers in the turnover / gross value added. In addition to their informational contribution, TSAs thus provide a decision-making basis for tourism policy measures such as, for example, the promotion of tourism investments/innovations/gross value added: - the promotion of tourism investments / innovations / major events - the assessment of the distributive justice of tourism levies and contributions represent.

Management Networks in Destinations
Duration:
2013

Team:
FH-Prof. Mag. Hubert J. Siller

Description:
The aim of the project is to analyse the connections, interplay and networks between the leaders of a destination and to identify approaches and instruments for better coordination and cooperation between the leaders in order to achieve cross-destination leadership, which is necessary for innovative and, above all, competitive development. The project is therefore concerned with analysing the relationships and networks between these individuals and seeks to answer the following questions. - What are the relationships between the identified leaders? (formal and informal) - What functions do the networks fulfil? - How does the network contribute to the leadership of the destination? - How can the network of relationships between leaders be optimised in terms of the strategic development of the destination with sustainable competitive overall performance?

Utilisation of the Ski Touring Potential in Tyrol
Duration:
2017 - 2018

Description:
While established winter sports activities such as alpine skiing or snowboarding have been increasingly struggling with youth problems for some years now, ski touring is enjoying steadily growing popularity. The desire to do something for one's own health and the search for peace and relaxation were identified in a study by the German Sport University Cologne as the main motives for practising winter sports in general . The results of an Alpine-wide Delphi survey of experts from science and practice conducted by the Management Center Innsbruck likewise emphasise that the need for experiencing nature, for a variety of sports activities and for a healthy lifestyle will become even more important in the coming years. In addition, the importance of differentiating winter sports activities alongside alpine skiing will gain in significance. Ski touring in particular is seen as having further growth potential here, as it meets the need for both health and nature. Various studies deal with the topic of winter sports or the winter sportsman in general, but a specific analysis of consumption and travel behaviour as well as a characterisation of the ski tourer does not take place for the most part. In accordance with the mandate of the Tyrolean Parliament, a concept for the "improved utilisation of the ski touring potential in the free ski area in Tyrol" was created. The aim of the study is to visualise and analyse travel and consumption patterns of the special demand group of ski tourers. The study results can form the basis for target group-specific measures to strengthen the mountain competence of Tyrol and serve as a basis for the development of demand-oriented measures and products for the target group of ski tourers.

Tourismus & Landwirtschaft in Tirol
Duration:
2019 - 2020

Project Lead:
Theresa Mitterer-Leitner, MA

Team:
Stefanie Haselwanter, BA MA

Description:
The objective of the project "Tourism and Agriculture in Tyrol - Cooperation and Conflict Potential in Land Use" is to survey the status quo of cooperation between agriculture and tourism with regard to land use, to elicit possible conflict potentials and to derive corresponding strategic implications and recommendations for action. Specifically, the following research questions will be addressed. 1) How does the cooperation between tourism and agriculture affect the use of space? 2) What are the effects of current developments on tourism and agriculture? 3) What are the effects of the current developments in tourism and agriculture in Tyrol on the interest groups? 4) What challenges do the stakeholders face with regard to the clash between economic and recreational space? 5) In what and through which concrete offers is there potential for conflict between tourism and agriculture in the use of space? 6) What are the mutual expectations and requirements between tourism and agriculture with regard to the use of space?


  • Zehrer, A., Raich, F., Siller, H., & Tschiderer, F. (2015). Development and governance of a family destination in the Alps. In H. Richins & J. Hull (Eds.), Mountain tourism - Experiences, communities, environments and sustainable futures (pp. 369-378). Oxfordshire: CABI.
  • Wegerer, P. K. & Nadegger, M. (2020). It’s time to act! Understanding online resistance against tourism development projects, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1853761
  • Schegg, R., Fux, M., & Bosio, B. (2020). Die Nutzung von Social Media und Online Marketing in alpinen Tourismusregionen: Ein Vergleich von Schweizer und Tiroler Tourismusdestinationen. In: Bierger, T., Beritelli, P., & Laesser, C. (Hrsg.). Innovative Konzepte im alpinen Tourismus. Schweizer Jahrbuch für Tourismus 2019/20. Berlin: ESV.
  • Bosio, B., Haselwanter, S., Ceipek, M. (2018). Social Media-Nutzung in Tiroler Destinationen. In: Groß, S., Peters, J., Roth, R., Schmude, J., & Zehrer, A. (Hrsg.). Wandel im Tourismus. Internationalität, Demografie und Digitalisierung. Berlin: ESV, 187-207.
  • Volo, S. & Wegerer, P.K. (2023). Assemblage theory in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research. 100, 103567.
  • Raich, F., Zehrer, A., Tschiderer, F., & Siller, H. (2014). Leadership networks and the need/claim for formalization. 2nd Biennial Forum Advances in Destination Management Conference 2014, June 10-13, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
  • Fecker, D., Zehrer, A., & Raich, F. (2023). Crossroads of dedication: assessing the synergy between organizational and destination commitment. Current Issues in Tourism, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2023.2298336
  • Nadegger, M. (2023). Reassembling more-than-human sustainability: Relations with snow. Annals of Tourism Research, 101, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2023.103613

  • Nadegger, M. (2020). "Let it snow". The communicative constitution of snow and its importance for ski areas in the Alps. Paper presented at Digitale Transformation - 82. Jahrestagung des VHB. 17.-20. März 2020. Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
  • Bosio, B., Schegg, R., Nadegger, M. & Fux, M. (2019): Big Data in alpinen Tourismusdestinationen: Nutzung, Gründe & Barrieren. Paper presented at 23. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Tourismuswissenschaft e.V., 14-16. November 2019, Deggendorf, Germany
  • Bayer, J., & Leitner, T. (2018). The relevance of winter atmosphere in alpine destinations. Presentation at Tourism Naturally Conference 2018, May 16th-18th 2018. Kaprun, Austria
  • Wegerer, P. K. & Petry, T. (2020, September 27 -30). Managing local authenticity in Alpine Hospitality Organizations [Paper Presentation]. TTRA Europe Chapter Conference, Innsbruck, Austria.
  • Untersteiner, J. & Reitsamer, B. F. (2019). Destination Competitiveness Revisited – What it takes for being successful. 48th EMAC Annual Conference 2019, May 28-31, Hamburg, Germany