Tiroler Tageszeitung, editorial, June 2, 2023 edition. By PETER NINDLER. "In the long shadow of Ischgl".

2023-06-01 20:00:31

Innsbruck (OTS) – Three years after the outbreak of the corona pandemic, the Ischgl file should be legally closed with the rejection of the compensation by the federal government. Much of the discussion was exaggerated, but politicians and authorities made mistakes.

Corona has left deep scars, not only in society. With Ischgl, however, Tyrol was on display like no other country at the beginning of the pandemic more than three years ago. In many cases, the corona virus was even equated with Tyrol because the Paznaun posh ski resort had developed into a super spreader. After all, in March and April 2020, 10,000 corona infections worldwide could be traced back to the tourism stronghold. Après-ski Eldorado, Ballermann of the Alps, rampant ski tourism, hordes of guests and a tourism industry that – like many others – found it very difficult to deal with the virus were amplifiers of a negative public perception: nationally and internationally.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that there were official glitches. As early as October 2020, the independent commission of experts on Ischgl, which was headed by the renowned former Vice President of the Supreme Court Ronald Rohrer, stated objectively, soberly but very clearly that mistakes had been made at all political and official levels. And thus disenchanted the embarrassing political mantra of the former health councilor Bernhard Tilg (ÖVP), according to which Tyrol had done everything right. Incidentally, that was not even possible in the first few months of the pandemic, and the appropriateness of corona measures is still being discussed today.
Legally, the consumer protection association VSV wanted to obtain damages and liability for those who had been infected with Corona in Ischgl. Of course that’s legitimate and understandable, but it was always accompanied by emotional music, sometimes aggressive and peppered with prejudice. However, with the decision now available, the Supreme Court has rejected the liability of the federal government in individual cases. At the same time, it fits into the picture outlined above that VSV chairman Peter Kolba describes the judgment as a license for authorities who could now do any nonsense they can think of during a pandemic.
The mistakes of politics and authorities have been pecking since 2020, on the other hand, the courts have already made criminal investigations, e.g. found no evidence of culpable behavior against the director of the state office, Herbert Forster, or the former Landeck district captain, Markus Maass, and therefore did not bring any charges.
Irrespective of this, contrary to the oblique opinion of the head of the Ischgl Tourist Association, Alexander von der Thannen, one thing is certain: the Tyrol brand has by no means benefited from Ischgl. On the contrary. She had to be polished up.