Merger on the mountain: Dachstein West now forms a company with Annaberg

This also reflects on a corporate law level what has already been done in marketing (“Bergbahnen Dachstein Salzkammergut”). “We are bringing together what belongs together. It is a great joy that a mountain with two operators is a thing of the past,” said Upper Austria’s Tourism Provincial Councilor Markus Achleitner (ÖVP). This will increase the international visibility of the Dachstein region.

The marketing of the umbrella brand “Bergbahnen Dachstein Salzkammergut” was already done together. This already includes Krippenstein, Gosau, Annaberg, Rußbach as well as Feuerkogel and Grünberg.

Salzburgers have 14 percent of Dachstein Tourismus AG

The main owner of Dachstein Tourismus AG (DAG) remains the regional company Upper Austria Seilbahnholding (67.6 percent), which also includes Feuerkogel and Grünberg. The Raiffeisenverband Salzburg (RVS) holds 14.2 percent of DAG. This is followed by Androschs Salzwelten GmbH with ten and Bundesforste with 3.6 percent. The percentage split was based on two tax advisor reports and an external merger auditor. The law firms agreed on a common valuation method, Achleitner told the OÖNachrichten, and then came to the same result for the shares, so that “the division was not at the expense of any share.”

Visitor numbers are expected to increase from 1 to 1.5 million

Old and new managing director Rupert Schiefer, who has been on board since the beginning of 2022, has big plans for the cable cars and lifts. He wants to increase the number of visitors from around one million to 1.5 million and sales from 22 to 30 million euros “as quickly as possible”. Year-round tourism is the big issue, which is why Salzburg also agreed to the merger. So far, 45 percent of sales are made in summer.
The operational impact of the merger is small, says Schiefer, because they have already worked together. There should be no layoffs among the 260 employees (on an annual average), not even in management. An advertisement for the managing director position was currently not necessary due to universal succession, as Schiefer was brought in thanks to an advertisement anyway.

Dachstein-West ski region (tourism)

Schiefer wants to make a number of replacement investments. According to Achleitner, the DAG is making profits and has good self-financing capacity; there are currently no plans for special state funding. There is no public funding from the Salzburg side for this.

“Overdue step”

This step was also long overdue for the Raiffeisen Association in Salzburg. “It is neither contemporary nor efficient for different companies on the same mountain to share operational tasks,” said RVS board member Andreas Derndorfer in a press release. The DAG headquarters in Gosau or Rußbach will remain the same.

The total offering of the Bergbahnen Dachstein Salzkammergut includes 31 cable cars and lifts as well as 14 children’s rope lifts and conveyor belts, 106 kilometers of slopes, over 350 kilometers of hiking trails and 7 via ferratas as well as a summer toboggan run.