If it had been up to Michael Herzog, things would have turned out differently. “I’m usually someone who checks out the alternatives beforehand,” he says of himself on the phone. But now Mayor Herzog has to do the exact opposite since it has been confirmed that his municipality of Bayerisch Eisenstein will be leaving the Bavarian Forest National Park holiday region (FNBW). Twelve Bavarian Forest municipalities originally came together under this name in order to better market tourism in their region – but the majority of the local council recently found that this was not working enough for Bayerisch Eisenstein. For Herzog, this was the wrong decision; at least he would have liked to have brought all the parties and ideas together around the table beforehand, but hey, things are what they are. “Now we have to look for alternatives,” he says.
In any case, the decision in Bayerisch Eisenstein (Regen district) can be considered unusual. Tourism and marketing associations are often an effective way for smaller communities in particular to attract attention in the competition for holidaymakers. The motto is: together we are stronger. It is therefore rare for people to break away from such alliances, and if they do, it must be on fundamental grounds that they are at odds.
In the case of Bayerisch Eisenstein, however, those responsible in the town hall and the association are still looking for the fundamental problem. The FNBW is currently restructuring, which apparently not everyone is happy about; it is said that the FNBW has generated too few overnight stays. But Mayor Herzog contradicts this: after all, there are also a good 600 fewer guest beds than before – because guest houses have closed or become second homes. FNBW managing director Robert Kürzinger points out that the number of overnight stays and guest arrivals has recently been positive. If the figures are not correct, he says, then he can understand the decision. But he still gets the impression that it was a “rush process”. Hoteliers have expressed similar views. One even wrote an open letter to the local council expressing his “horror”. He could not understand how such a decision could be made “without having a more promising alternative concept”.
In fact, there are now big question marks, both in Bayerisch Eisenstein and at the FNBW. To put it simply, the company has so far taken over marketing for the town, managed IT or provided staff for the tourist information office. A network that is interwoven with the other member communities – Eppenschlag, Frauenau, Hohenau, Kirchdorf, Lindberg, Mauth-Finsterau, Neuschönau, Sankt Oswald-Riedlhütte, Schönberg, Spiegelau and Zwiesel – and now needs to be unraveled by the end of the year. Who will employ the three employees in the tourist information office from January 2025? Will the guest card, which allows free bus travel in the region, still be valid in Bayerisch Eisenstein? And how can the change be made in the middle of the winter high season without upsetting holidaymakers? Kürzinger does not know yet, but hopes that the local council will reconsider its decision. For the FNBW, the departure of Bayerisch Eisenstein is a great loss, the location is “super important”: It is a railway stop and climatic health resort, a gateway to the Bavarian Forest and the Grosser Arber, and connects eastern Bavaria and the Czech Republic across the border.
Mayor Herzog, on the other hand, speaks of a democratic decision that he will implement. “I was not elected to bury my head in the sand.” However, the municipality will remain a member of the East Bavaria and Arberland tourism associations.