Lockdowns and a shortage of skilled workers have not made life easy for the entire industry lately. The generous project is intended to strengthen the competitiveness of this Austrian educational institution internationally in the future.

Aimed at international top position

Thursday was the symbolic start of construction for one of the largest new buildings of all time in the Salzburg education system. The federal government, the state and the Chamber of Commerce are jointly investing in Kleßheim. The future tourism campus is soon to play at the forefront internationally. Governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP) attended the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday: “It will be a really great school. The knowledge that is imparted here, the skills and attitudes and skills that are then carried into the companies. And that is the key to success for us. “

In July, the excavators went to demolish the old buildings. At the same time, a provisional school village made of container elements was built for 1.6 million euros – for the classes, two teaching restaurants and a boarding school with 20 rooms. The Kleßheim students handled the relocation of the school kitchen themselves.

“Quality requirements are constantly increasing”

The container classes have been teaching for two weeks now. The new building should then also set new standards in terms of digitization and modern forms of teaching, as school director Leonhard Wörndl emphasizes: “The quality requirements in the catering industry are increasing. The food on offer is getting better and better. ”And the pupils who die should always be better educated, says the school principal.

The opening of the new campus in Kleßheim is planned for 2023.

Sharing the high costs

14.1 million euros of the construction costs come from the school owner, the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce (WKS). The federal government is contributing a further 11.5 million euros, the remaining 7.4 million euros from the state. “The Kleßheim Tourism School is one of the best tourism schools in the world and is one of the central training centers for tourism in the State of Salzburg,” says WKS President Peter Buchmüller: “Corona has changed a lot, including education. We are therefore relying more than ever on contemporary quality tourism in training. “

According to Buchmüller, 40 percent of all students in Salzburg are the children of entrepreneurs who work in tourism: “Of course, this is also our wish that they go to school here as experts of the future.”

Forms of training are being increased

There are currently three forms of training at the tourism school: a three-year hotel management school, the five-year higher education institution for tourism and a college that is run in English. The new campus will no longer have its own IT rooms. There is a complete “bring your own device” concept for students and teachers. The students work with their private devices; the program is made available by the school.

There are also good plans behind the new building: An “Internationaler Bildungscampus Klessheim” could be supplemented by an English-language higher education institution for business professions from 2023 – and, according to the initiators, develop a similar radiance to the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences or the University of Science City in the Itzling district of Salzburg .