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Community
One of the main factors in choosing the location of this holiday is the village of St Jakob in which we stay. It is our aim to seek out small upland communities where traditional ways of life survive, although they are often on the retreat. Our intention is to bring new income and impetus to the community – without overwhelming it! Our guests visit in small, carefully managed numbers over as long a season as possible: maintaining positive economic input through consistency over time while avoiding the negative impacts associated with high numbers over a short period. We aim to help them enjoy learning about the environment and culture, while the locals benefit both economically, and from the knowledge that their way of life is valued.
In St Jakob we stay in the family-run Gasthof Zum Löwen. This small (9 room) establishment is also the only bar-restaurant in the village and so is the hub of the community. Apart from their limited local business the Ainetter family rely on passing trade – so tell us that our regular and longer bookings will help ensure they can continue to provide the village with its centre of life. The delicious food Monica cooks is sourced from her own garden, those of her neighbours, and local farmers and producers. The Gasthof boiler burns bark chippings from the tiny village saw-mill.
Our manager lives locally and so is the all important point of contact between our guests and the villagers – ensuring mutual understanding and appreciation. The manager prepares a deli-style packed-lunch for our guests each day – sourcing ingredients from villagers, the tiny shop in Birnbaum, the next door village, and the local mountain farms. In the evenings our guests can eat at the Gasthof or choose to bring valuable business to other inns and restaurants in the valley.
There are some small local enterprises in the area offering organised activities such as horse-riding and rock-climbing, which we encourage our travellers to enjoy. We highly recommend a visit to the WW1 museum at nearby Kötschach-Mauthen, which aims to promote peace through an understanding of the battles fought on the mountain peaks around. In Maria Luggau water-mills hundreds of years old still grind grain in a living museum that is part of one our walks – illustrating many aspects of the valley’s surviving traditions and patterns of work.
During the summer months, there are locally organised events in which we encourage client support and participation. Village festivals celebrate local traditions: hay-making, bread and cheese.
Environment
The mountain environment our walks explore is still worked in the traditional manner, with flocks of sheep and herds of cows grazing the high pastures, and extensive forests that are carefully managed. In the summer hay-making involves the whole community, with much work done by hand – in July our guests have the opportunity to join with the villagers as they work on Der Mussen above St Jakob and then celebrate finishing the job! Some of our walks pass by mountain farms and refuges where local foods can be sampled and bought. Our handbook and specially trained manager give tips on how to understand this landscape, and move through it without upsetting careful balances, as well as outlining the general principles of responsible tourism.
All our local transportation is carbon offset. Our brochure production and distribution is also carbon offset, and we offer all our clients the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions caused by their flights too. We encourage and arrange train travel and sell train tickets, providing details of how this region can easily be reached by train to Venice, thereby avoiding flying altogether. Our brochure and all other literature and correspondence uses recycled paper, and we operate a rigorous recycling and energy saving policy both at our UK office and all our destinations, as well as encouraging our local suppliers to do the same.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
