“Mountain Hut Organizations in Austria Struggle to Find Tenants and Embrace Temporary Hut Keepers”

The Alpine Club in the Austrian state of Salzburg has 32 mountain huts and Naturefriends has 16, but both organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to find tenants for their houses. There are hardly any hut keepers for life anymore: “The working world has simply changed,” says Anita Bitterlich from the Alpine Club. Both organizations are now making do with the “Temporary Hut Keeper” concept, i.e. with volunteers who take over a house for a few weeks for free board and lodging.