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F.act: How did the idea of desksurfing come about?
Dobmeier, Ratzenböck, Geiger: The idea for Desksurfing arose from a personal observation and a clear need: Lea has been working at the Altstadthotel Weissen Kreuz in Innsbruck for two years and is regularly in contact with international guests who are working during their stay. The question often arose as to whether there were suitable workspaces nearby outside the hotel room - ideally with contact to locals or local companies. Coworking spaces exist, but they are often too standardized, fully booked or too far away. At the same time, there are many unused spaces or empty desks in companies in the region. This gap between demand and existing but inaccessible resources led to the idea: why not make all these spaces bookable via a central platform? This is how the concept for Desksurfing was born.
F.act: Why do you think this concept is promising?
Dobmeier, Ratzenböck, Geiger: Why desksurfing? Social change has long been a reality: work is becoming more flexible, more mobile and more location-independent. The workation market is growing - not as a trend, but as a structural change. When traveling, young professionals in particular are looking for places where they can work productively and feel a sense of belonging at the same time. Regions like Tirol offer ideal conditions for this. Desksurfing creates a digital tool to make existing resources visible and bookable - without new infrastructure, but with smart networking of businesses, tourism associations and public institutions. This strengthens tourism value creation and also positions the region as an attractive business location. Our aim with desksurfing is not only to create new places to work, but also an ecosystem that connects people, places and companies in new ways. Sustainable, digital, authentic.
F.acT: Who or what do you need to actually implement this concept?
Dobmeier, Ratzenböck, Geiger: To successfully implement this concept, we now need three things:
1. strategic partners - especially tourism boards (TVBs) such as Tirol Werbung, which act as a hub for hosts:in and regional providers and actively integrate our platform into their communication channels. As the team currently consists of 3 tourism experts, technical know-how is required to develop a suitable digital platform or app.
2. financial support - through subsidies, co-financing from regional banks and potential investors who are interested in sustainable digitalization and innovative tourism solutions
3. pilot regions with a pioneering spirit - Innsbruck and Tyrol are ideal starting points, as interest, infrastructure and initial contacts already exist here.