The development of the castlecamp is a mirror for the development and tendencies on the Internet: more and more people participate actively. The web is widely known by now. But what is the castlecamp? It is Kaprun’s own version of the so-called ‘barcamp’. The idea behind it is as simple as it is successful. At first sight this event looks like an ordinary conference – but do not judge this book by its cover! There is no key-note speaker, the participants are on a level playing field during the discussions, work out their own short presentations, and on the morning of the camp, they decide on the topics which will be discussed during short sessions.

A barcamp is an ad-hoc meeting which arose from the wish to share knowledge and learn new things in an open and creative environment. The castlecamp:Tourismus focuses on (e-)tourism and takes place at Kaprun Castle on 12th and 13th September.

The castelcamp owes its name to its venue: Kaprun Castle. Last year Rainer Edlinger and his team of our client Zell am See-Kaprun invited guests to the historic setting for the first time to exchange ideas on the future of the tourism industry. After all, the Internet’s importance is increasing in this field, too. The number of holidaymakers who collect information on their holiday destination on the Internet is growing continuously and exchanging personal opinions and experiences with others plays an important role. But how to use the Internet in one’s favour? In 2008 about 60 participants from Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland discussed this essential question. This year the organizers are expecting almost twice as many guests.

‘Almost’, because the capacities of the medieval building reach their limits at 100 participants. All those who still would like to be present have to content themselves with having their names put on the waiting list. We as the partner in communication of the castlecamp have signed up as regular participants early on, of course. Our interest has several reasons: on the one hand, we think that the camp’s concept is extraordinarily innovative and definitely one of the best that has seen the light of day lately. For this reason we want to support Rainer Edlinger and the organizers with our know-how and contribute our share in making this first Austrian barcamp series on tourism a success.

On the other hand, the topics of the event have many points of contact with our daily work: the online aspect in communication is gaining more and more relevance. Just like us, the participants of the barcamp are focusing on the best method for people working in tourism to address their target groups on the Internet. The much discussed ‘Web 2.0′ – a tool which is growing in importance for PR service providers, too – plays a central role here, of course. Consequently, we will not let the opportunity pass to profit from the experiences of other participants who have worked in this field for several years and continue to initiate new projects. The gained insights will then pay off for one special group: our clients.

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