We have a new member, and it’s a big one. The ÖTK Österreichischer Touristenklub, founded in Vienna in 1869, has joined European Trails.

A few numbers put that in perspective. The ÖTK looks after 19,239 kilometres of hiking trails and almost 50 mountain huts, with sections in eight of Austria’s nine federal states. That is more than a third of the trail network maintained by all Austrian alpine clubs.

Why the ÖTK joined

Michael Platzer, the ÖTK’s managing director, was very clear in our conversations about what the club hopes to get out of membership. We wish every new member came to us this prepared.

His first concern is data. Austria’s clubs report their trail kilometres themselves, and there is no common way of counting them. Digitising historic trail registers is slow work, mostly done by volunteers, and in some regions in Austria it has taken well over a decade without being finished. So when we announced in August that we want to build an open, standardised data network for Europe’s long-distance trails, it hit home. Michael’s view, which we share, is that this shouldn’t stop at long-distance routes. A long-distance trail, a themed trail and a circular walk often run on the same path. Good data describes that path first and the brand on the signpost second.

His second concern is legal. Many Austrian trails rest on customary rights of way that were never entered in the land register, and the waymarking is often the only visible proof. Michael wants to know how other European countries secure the legal basis of their trails, and he suspects nobody has compared this systematically yet.

What the ÖTK brings

• ÖNORM S 4600, Austria’s upcoming national standard for trail signage, being developed at Austrian Standards on the ÖTK’s initiative
• Experience in digital trail recording, including matching trail data against Austria’s digital cadastral map
• A cost-sharing model that splits long-term maintenance between municipalities, tourism boards, landowners and clubs, already in use in Tyrol and Lower Austria

The ÖTK is planning to take part in four Project Groups: PG7 Trail Standards, PG8 Digitalization & AI, PG10 Trail Financing and PG12 Advocacy & Lobbying. It has also said it will sign the European Trails Policy Paper, which calls for trails to be recognised as essential public infrastructure.

Where we see future projects

Several of these topics could become funded projects, and some connect to work we’ve already started.

Open trail data (PG8). The ÖTK’s mapping experience feeds directly into our plans for a common open data format for European trails. Since the ÖTK is active in Tyrol, cross-border Interreg programmes between Austria and its neighbours are a natural place to begin.

Signage standards (PG7). ÖNORM S 4600 gives us a concrete national standard to hold up against signage systems in other countries. That comparison alone could be a project.

Trail financing (PG10). Who pays to keep a trail open in the long run is a question without an easy answer. The ÖTK brings a model that is already being applied in two Austrian states.

Legal security of trails (PG12). How trail access is protected by law differs from country to country. A structured comparison would be useful for trail organisations and for the people writing policy.

Thank you, Michael, and thank you to everyone at the ÖTK for joining with so much substance. We’re looking forward to working with you in the Project Groups.