Main-Kinzig District’s ‘Hands on MKK’ Campaign Wins Hessian Tourism Prize

The Hessian Tourism Prize is endowed with a total of 10,000 euros and is awarded in cooperation with the ADAC Hessen-Thüringen. “Hands on MKK” was selected from over 50 applications as the first prize winner. The action took place for the first time as part of a marketing campaign for skilled workers, which was built around three ambassadors from different industries and backgrounds: Anna-Lena Kröckel from Gelnhausen, project manager at ODW-Elektrik; Luis Klostermann from Bad Soden-Salmünster, Social Media Manager at Engelbert Strauss and Georg Heilein from Langenselbold, Sales Manager at LIDL.

At “Hands on MKK” students come to the Main-Kinzig district for a one-month internship. The participants live in the region, live together free of charge in a holiday apartment and work in regional companies. You gain work experience, get to know attractive companies and experience the entire region with its natural beauty, its cultural heritage, its diverse economy and last but not least your proximity to Frankfurt am Main, Fulda and Aschaffenburg. After work, they receive personalized newsletters with tips and vouchers, and for the weekends they can choose from various free group activities. The campaign is accompanied on social media and the experience news blog so that the attractiveness of the Main-Kinzig district as a center of life becomes known nationwide. Further information can be found on the website www.main-kinzig.com.

The campaign took place for the first time in the summer of 2022 and last year attracted six students from the Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences in Thuringia. They completed internships at Evonik and ROHDE inert gas furnaces in Hanau and at the Rüppel construction center in Gelnhausen. During their stay they enjoyed activities such as llama and alpaca hiking, gliding, rock climbing and visiting Frankfurt. The second round is currently running with students from the TU Darmstadt, the Fulda University of Applied Sciences, the TH Deggendorf and the Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences. Companies involved this year are Jökel Bau from Schluechtern, the Colemanpark senior center in Gelnhausen and ROHDE inert gas furnaces in Hanau.

The first district councilor of the Main-Kinzig district, Susanne Simmler, who is also chairwoman of the STM supervisory board, congratulated the STM team on this achievement. “We are very proud of this award, which confirms our efforts to promote our region as a modern and attractive center of life for young professionals. We want to show them that they can ideally combine living close to nature, interesting jobs, a wide range of leisure activities and the proximity to the metropolis of Frankfurt,” she said.

also dr Gunther Quidde, General Manager of the Hanau-Gelnhausen-Schlüchtern Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), praised the campaign as an example of successful regional cooperation. “The ‘Hands on MKK’ campaign is a great initiative that creatively combines tourism, business and education. It shows the potential and diversity of our region and its companies. It also helps meet the challenge of attracting and retaining skilled workers in times of demographic change,” he said.

For Bernhard Mosbacher, Managing Director of Spessart Tourismus und Marketing GmbH, winning the Hessian Tourism Prize is “an award for the innovative work of our team. The fact that we were able to win the Hessian Tourism Prize for the second time after 2017 shows the special position of STM in Hesse”.

The STM was represented with another project among the six nominees: the learning and adventure trail “Ardeas Seenwelt” at the Kinzigstaussee. In addition to the STM, the country inn Kastanienhof in Eppstein, which presents traditional dishes of the regional cuisine in a contemporary way, and the Initiative Gastronomie Frankfurt eV, which has developed guidelines for climate-friendly gastronomy, were honored as second prize winners. An honorary award went to the Skywalk Willingen, the longest free-standing pedestrian suspension bridge in Germany.

The Spessart Tourismus und Marketing GmbH team with Managing Director Bernhard Mosbacher (back row on the right) at the presentation of the “Typically Hessian Award 2023”. © Spessart Tourism and Marketing GmbH