Krems-Stein, the idyllic twin town, is considered to be the "Gateway to the Wachau" and a pioneering model of monument management with World Heritage status. At the same time, however, the town’s more recent history – and above all its contemporary history – is marred by numerous dark spots.

Building in a World Heritage site is a topical issue. Historic settlement areas often present difficult challenges for municipalities and owners. With the help of the Wachau Zones, development plans are elaborated which simplify dealing with historic buildings in line with World Heritage requirements.

Natural forests, extensive hiking trails and prized cultural treasures – the Dunkelsteinerwald has a large, to some extent still untapped, potential for people seeking local recreational pursuits. In addition, thousands of day-trippers and holidaymakers, for whom the Dunkelsteiner usually remains just a secret tip, can be found in the zones on the periphery of the Dunkelsteinerwald every year. Browsing through brochures and websites reveals little information about the Dunkelsteinerwald, let alone any actual offers.

The Spitzer Graben panoramic hiking trail has a lot to offer. On Sunday, wines, juices and water are served at the Zornberg chalet in the Zornberg vineyard. However, there is no toilet to relieve oneself.

The quality campaign “Best of Wachau” comprises 53 businesses that act as a regional figurehead for marketing the destination. Within the scope of this project, the high standard of the businesses should be maintained or improved, especially in the area of online marketing. Further measures are intended to provide support with the search for employees and to boost customer loyalty.

SANLAS Holding is looking to integrate the private gardens of Hollenburg Private Clinic into the regional tourism offering. In cooperation with the local tourism agency, Donau Niederösterreich Tourismus GmbH, a master plan is to be created that defines how the gardens and the publicly accessible infrastructure of the clinic can be used.

Tourism in the Wachau has developed extremely well in recent years, especially in summer. The numbers of arrivals and overnight visitors are positive and rising. However, summer isn’t the only season to be experiencing an upward trend – off-peak times for tourists in the spring and late autumn are also increasingly in demand. A range of initiatives has been developed, especially during the cooler months, to attract visitors from Austria and abroad.

The historic town of Dürnstein, with its many iconic buildings of historic importance, such as the blue tower of the abbey church or the castle ruins, has been a hotspot of activity in the Wachau tourism region from day one. The limited space available, the lack of coordination between the visiting times of different tour operators and the many options available for coming to visit the town all result in very high visitor numbers. This is creating an ever stronger sense of exploitation amongst the town’s few permanent residents (according to a recent count, only 93 people live within the town walls) and of being a stranger in one’s own home.

A tourism development strategy for the year 2030 was developed for the city of Krems in 2015 and 2016. It defines five core competencies, one of which is economic and educational tourism. Within the scope of this project, targeted measures and sales-orientated concepts should be developed to achieve a clear positioning in the MICE segment (Meetings/Incentives/Conventions/Exhibitions).

In terms of tourism, the Dunkelsteinerwald is overshadowed by the Wachau. However, in recent years, it has been possible to position the Dunkelsteinerwald as a hiking destination with the hiking trail network of the Dunkelsteinerwald-Runde.