A Podcast on Best Practices in Tourism

Kathrin Fuchs: By the end of 2022, the reputation of the hotel and restaurant industry was literally in the gutter. After COVID-19, the many regulations, and the extreme ups and downs—which were partly understandable—it just “bugged” me as someone in the tourism industry. I wanted to counter this reputation with my podcast initiative (launching in 2023). That’s why my podcast features only hoteliers and restaurateurs who treat their employees very well and possess many other positive qualities as well. My interviewees share a sense of the generations to come and a positive outlook on tourism. By using the podcast format, I wanted to reach out to younger generations in particular, to show them businesses that truly support their employees. Another goal of the podcast is to make the hospitality and restaurant industries more appealing to young people as potential employers. My interviewees have the advantage of being featured alongside other colleagues from Tyrol, Bavaria, South Tyrol, Vorarlberg, and the United Kingdom as part of a select group of top tourism professionals. My focus isn’t on producing many episodes, but on meaningful conversations with quality-conscious individuals—conversations that anyone can listen to on all podcast platforms. These best practices should be recognized in their regions and beyond… to enhance the reputation of the hospitality and restaurant industries.

 

Kathrin Fuchs: So far, I’ve only had like-minded people on the podcast, and I want to keep it that way. What I convey to my audience is very important to me. That’s why I’ll continue to feature authentic, charming coffee chats with current topics, honest answers, and intuitively asked questions. There’s no set script for the conversations; instead, the questions come from my own experience and the information I receive in advance about each company, which I review and evaluate. So appearing on my podcast is a mark of quality. I’m very selective in my choices and have already had to turn down a few. Topics that have been covered on the podcast so far include: employer branding, employee retention, business acquisitions, AI, and corporate culture. And in the first four-part series last fall, I had several leading tourism professionals from Tyrol join me in front of the golden microphone to discuss “Sustainable Work and Its Implementation.”
 

Kathrin Fuchs: We need more initiatives to promote the tourism and leisure industry as an attractive employer. In a few years, we should ensure that, over lunch, people of all generations are aware of the best-practice examples in their region, and that more positive than negative things are said about the industry. Because let’s be honest, there are now many positive examples, and in Tyrol, well over half of the population makes a living from the tourism and leisure industry. Whether they’re suppliers and vendors, service providers like supermarkets, doctors, and many others. I’m very grateful to live in a tourist region because it gives me access to a lot of infrastructure that, as a local, I really enjoy using.