The home page of looks a bit playful “Hey Bavaria” the end. On the left, a cartoon cyclist rushes down the slope, on the right someone is stomping up a mountain on touring skis. In between there is a stylized concert, someone is paddling on the stand-up board and over there people are toasting each other. “Discover the region like a local” is the claim on the “Hey Bayern” logo. The city council decided at its most recent meeting that there should be a graphics variant of the platform in the first quarter of 2023. Her name, logically: “Hey Grafing”.
The economic and political background of the platform is a very serious one. To a certain extent, she wants to counteract the pull of the metropolitan areas with a local magnet. So that people do more locally, experience, eat, consume. The Traunstein-based creators of “Hey Bayern” advertise their platform as a “digital all-round carefree package”. She actually provides information about everything on site: “All shops, all restaurants, all events, all courses, all appointments. Bars, clubs, bands, artists.”
The city of Grafing has to pay around 30,000 euros for the project
Grafing has to pay almost 30,000 euros for the platform service, which is initially planned for three years. The European Union (EU) grants roughly the same amount again from the Regional Development Fund (ERDF), i.e. also tax money. The funding is intended to support the “transition to a digital and ecologically sustainable economy and society”.
SPD city councilor Christian Kerschner-Gehrling reported at the meeting that he initially thought it was a very good idea. But then he would have researched a bit on the Internet. “And there you can already read a lot of criticism that the projects start with vigor – but then noticeably fall asleep.” For him, the question simply arises as to whether the costs could not be used in a more targeted manner for other measures to promote the economy.
FDP city councilor Claus Elmer wanted nothing to do with the proposal. “It all sounds very much like we’re trying to develop what feels like the seventeenth wheel on the car.” Someone who wants to know the current opening hours of this or that pub, for example, usually opens the Google app. “But he doesn’t have to laboriously open a website and click through until he finds the restaurants somewhere.”
Local retailers are enthusiastic about the idea
At least according to the draft resolution, the supposed beneficiaries of the platform – i.e.: Grafinger retail, service industries, gastronomy and clubs – see it differently. According to the city administration, an information event took place a few days before the meeting. “The representatives of the individual interest groups spoke out with great enthusiasm for the implementation of this platform,” it says.
Gabriele Köhler alone was important enough to state this view of things in the meeting and to defend the “enthusiasm” if necessary. She is one of two managing directors of the Grafinger start-up center “Zamworking”. Her credo: Please don’t be too quick to badmouth the portal. “In Traunstein, the portal is running really well!”. It is definitely an added value if the platform differentiates whether this or that restaurant is also something for someone who cannot climb stairs.
That’s exactly what you could google, Bucket shook his head. “Most of the time, photos are even uploaded there so that people can get a quick picture of themselves, depending on their limitations.” In the end, 14 of the 20 city councilors present voted for the new city portal. It should go online by the end of March 2023 at the latest.