With the “Recipes for Success” funding program, the state’s tourism department has supported investments by Styrian restaurants in recent months. 78 projects were funded with a total of 2.5 million euros. The local restaurants invested a total of almost 16 million euros in further improving the quality of their offerings. The available funding budget was fully utilized.
“Styrian cuisine and our hospitality are popular beyond our borders and also contribute to the positive development of domestic tourism. The high quality of the food and the typical Styrian hospitality are what make our restaurants particularly special. With the ‘Recipes for Success’ funding program, we have given the industry an important boost and supported restaurants in making their offerings more attractive and expanding with investments,” said State Tourism Minister Barbara Eibinger-Miedl.
The supported catering establishments have invested primarily in the area of quality improvement in their projects, often by expanding their indoor and outdoor capacities (beer gardens) as well as structural measures such as modernizing the interior. In addition, numerous sustainability measures were implemented such as improving energy efficiency or installing photovoltaic systems. The construction of new catering establishments was also among the supported projects.
Funding program covers a broad spectrum and will continue in 2025
Due to the great success of the funding program and the high willingness of domestic companies to invest, the funding program will be continued next year.
Investments in the catering industry are supported, particularly in the areas of quality improvements, sustainability, energy efficiency or energy saving measures and photovoltaic systems. Furthermore, digitization measures, capacity expansions, employee facilities, beer gardens, kitchen design, guest room equipment, sanitary facilities and machinery are also included in the funding program.
A business must meet the following criteria to receive funding: It must have at least 20 seats inside and offer hot meals at lunch and dinner (only at lunch on Sundays). It must also be open at least four days a week, including one weekend day. The location must also be in a Styrian tourist town.
The topic of culinary arts is also a key marketing focus of Styria Tourism. For example, the current campaign for summer 2024, which promotes holidays in Styria in Austria, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Netherlands, is all about Styrian cuisine.
Photo (© STG/Streibl, use free of charge if mentioned): State Minister for Tourism Barbara Eibinger-Miedl supports the Styrian gastronomy industry with the “Recipes for Success” funding program.
