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.

The Nature Park owes its great diversity of plants and animals to its mosaic-like cultural landscape and the extensively used meadows. Global changes are forcing many agricultural businesses to specialise or shut up shop. A consequence of this are meadows that are no longer managed and increasingly turning into woodland. To counteract this trend and preserve diversity in the Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park, a nature park brand is under development. This label stands for management compatible with nature and gives the businesses’ products added ecological value.

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.

Over the coming three years, the Danube Lower Austrian Visitors` Ring will be organising a comprehensive package of qualification measures with training courses, workshops and excursions in a LEADER cooperation project for establishments in the Wachau and Nibelungengau. The landlords should be provided with business training and prepared for future challenges. The changing needs of guests as a result of demographic changes should be identified and the offer adjusted to Holiday on the Farm establishments, vineyards and private room landlords.

In recent years, a number of initiatives have established themselves in the region in late autumn and winter which have had a very positive impact on the development of tourism and thus on extending the season. Apart from the long-distance hiking trail “World Heritage Trail Wachau”, which can be easily hiked even in the colder months thanks to the mild climate, numerous cultural initiatives, such as “ELIT” (European literature days), “Wachau in Echtzeit” (Wachau in Real Time - curated by Ursula Strauss) as well as many Advent markets and culinary events have become established. The implementation of the mobility concept (bus connections) means that all municipalities in the region can now also be easily reached without a car.

The European Diploma for Protected Areas is doubtless one of the most valuable awards that can be bestowed upon a region. Awards can be given to sufficiently protected natural and cultural landscapes – in the case of the Wachau, the designation of the valley as a landscape conservation area is the gentlest possible but nevertheless sufficient level of protection – above all due to their special quality in scientific, cultural, aesthetic and/or recreational terms.

The municipalities of Mautern, Bergern, Furth, Rossatz-Arnsdorf and Schönbühel-Aggsbach will be intensifying their collaboration over the coming years and focusing on the common positioning of the south bank. Under the direction of Martin Vogg, who was previously responsible for the project Wachau 2010 plus, existing offers should be combined with new ones and wrapped up into bookable packages, starting with the two locations of Maria Langegg and the Aggsbach Charterhouse.

The Wachau project is the first LIFE project implemented in the region whose goal was to conserve the region’s most endangered habitats. This resulted in three focal points: Lively Danube, dry grasslands and natural forest.

The currently running project “Wilderness Wetland Wachau” is intended to follow on from two previous LIFE projects in the region. Extensive measures for revitalising the remains of old river courses are planned during the project period. Existing areas of riparian forest on already existing and newly created islands should be improved and expanded. The creation of spawning waters is envisaged for highly endangered amphibians such as the yellow-bellied toad and the Danube northern crested newt, nests will be created for white-tailed eagles and valuable old trees will be protected.

The LIFE+ project Mostviertel-Wachau includes measures on the Danube and the Ybbs river. Revitalisation measures are being implemented on the Ybbs in Amstetten and on the Pielach, and disconnected side arms of the Danube are being reconnected to the river in the Wachau.