Conclusion of the project INDIALPS

How can tourism and nature conservation be reconciled? This is the key question addressed by the INDIALPS project. Since 2024, concepts have been developed to sustainably manage visitor flows in the Dobratsch and Julian Prealps Nature Parks, as well as in the tourism regions of Villach and Tarvisio.

On March 18, 2026, the results were presented at the Grand Bamberg Hall in Villach, showcasing how modern visitor management and cross-border tourism offers can go hand in hand. The event focused on reviewing two years of intensive cooperation between partners from Carinthia, Friuli, and Veneto. Key achievements include innovations in visitor guidance, accessible offers, and the concept of a Three-Country Peace Park.

In the Dobratsch Nature Park, dedicated stakeholders from the Alpine Club, landowners, the hunting community, nature conservationists, and partner businesses redefined year-round tourism. At the same time, the impacts of various outdoor activities were analyzed in the Julian Prealps Nature Park to create a guide for sustainable conduct. Furthermore, the Tarvisio tourism region launched an intensive process to achieve GSTC certification for sustainable destinations.

The scientific foundation for this work was provided by the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (FH Kärnten) and the University of Padua through a large-scale study using a multimodal approach. The findings from the comprehensive investigation of visitor flows will allow the nature parks to implement even more targeted measures for visitor management in the future.

A central aspect of sustainable regional development is the sensitive management of the local natural and cultural landscape and its wildlife. To better understand the complex dynamics between humans and wild animals, the evening featured a special highlight: a high-level keynote by renowned wildlife biologist Paolo Molinari (Progetto Lince Italia – University of Turin) titled “Wolf, Bear, Lynx, and Nature Tourism.”

The project concluded the following day with an informative excursion to the Dobratsch Nature Park, where some of the results could already be examined on-site.