A BALMY SUMMER EVENING ON BOARD THE SHIP

DIETER SCHMID has been managing director of AchenseeSchifffahrt since spring 2021. Even though he took on this new task at a very challenging time, his initial assessment is quite positive.

The year 2022 was the 135th year of operation for the Achensee-Schifffahrt company, so it was almost a small anniversary. This is one reason why both the nautical and the gastronomic offerings were completely overhauled. The approximately 300,000 guests were grateful, and, in the end, the result exceeded the original expectations by far. The objective for the future, according to managing director Dieter Schmid, is to operate the shipping all year round, thus creating attractive full-time jobs throughout the year and filling them with people who live locally with their families and see their centre of life in the Achensee region. The first step was to greatly expand the range of events on offer.

This year, around 160 events will be offered on the MS Achensee. In addition to fixed events such as brunch, fondues and the “whisky ship”, various sundowner events have been added to the programme - including good food, cool drinks and live music. The cooperation with the Achenseebahn railway is also set to become even closer. This year, the Achenseebahn has increased the number of trips on offer so that the combination of train and boat is even more attractive for the mutual guests. And, last but not least, environmental benefits have been achieved: the Achensee fleet, consisting of three ships, was converted to a synthetic, low-odour and easily biodegradable fuel in summer 2022.