Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH (stg)

Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH (STG)

Heinrich-von-Stephan-Str. 8b, D-79100 Freiburg

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

E-Mail [e-mail]

Internet www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info/presse

10 Years of the Eco-Friendly KONUS Guest Card

Every second holidaymaker in the Black Forest tourist region can avail of free public transport on buses and trains – simply by using the guest card. Upon their arrival, holidaymakers can pick up the free guest card in any one of 10,000 accommodation providers in 143 holiday resorts. It provides free transport in all buses and trains (2^nd class) in the 11,100 square kilometer holiday region where the countries of Germany, Switzerland and France meet. Of the roughly 26 million overnight stays in commercial and private accommodation providers, 11 million were with Konus members. By now, a good 80% of the statistically documented hotels and accommodation providers in the Black Forest with at least ten beds give out the Konus guest card.

Konus stands for Kostenlose Nutzung des ÖPNV für Schwarzwaldurlauber (Free Public Transport Use for Black Forest Holidaymakers). Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH (STG) launched the project in 2005 with 66 municipalities and six of the nine transport authorities in the south west. Since 2008, all nine transport authorities in the region have been involved.

“Thanks to the Konus guest card, holidaymaker mobility in the Black Forest can be sustainably regulated. Because more and more holidaymakers are using the bus and train networks, secondary routes also become more economical to operate for the transport authorities. The local population also profits from this. And if holidaymakers leave their car at the resort, or similarly, if they travel by train, less land is needed for the zoning of new roads, while environmental damage through noise and carbon dioxide emissions is considerably reduced” – this, claims STG managing director, is the reason for the success of his brainchild.

In total, Konus members hosted around 11 million overnight stays in 2014. Meanwhile, the municipalities pay a flat rate fee of 36 cent per overnight stay. One cent of that goes to the STG for the handling and marketing of Konus, with the rest going to the transport authorities. In 2014 it added up to a projected total of almost €3.86 million (the exact figure will only be available in April 2015). Thanks to Konus, the transport authorities have up to now received €26.24 million in flat rate fees from the participating municipalities.

Konus has long since been a popular export: In the Bavarian Forest, the “GUTi” visitor services eco card was modeled on it, while the Harz national park and rural district has the “Hatix” card. The Eifel national park adventure region has also been testing a corresponding “GästeTicket” since January 2014. Tourism experts from Asia have even come to the Black Forest to find out about the general terms and conditions of the scheme.

For its exemplary environmentally-friendly and sustainable impact, Konus received the tourism prize from Sonntag Aktuell newspaper, the Baden-Württemberg ÖPNV Innovation Prize and the Fahrtziel Natur (Destination Nature) Award 2014. Thanks to Konus, the two nature parks became members of the rail and environmental associations with Fahrtziel Natur in 2013. With Konus as a lighthouse project, the Black Forest was also a finalist in the national “Sustainable Tourism Region” competition.

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Managing Director: Christopher Krull; Chairpersons: District Administrator Dorothea Störr-Ritter, District Administrator Frank Scherer