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Accomplishing more together: flagship project impresses jury

  • 22.01.2026
  • Research
Personen stehen eng nebeneinander und zwei Personen haben Auszeichnungen in der Hand.
© Thomas Loris (DHA)

Franziska Schradstetter, MA (Achensee Tourism, first from left) and Emily Kirchlechner, MA (FH Kufstein Tirol, center) together with jury member and laudator Katja Fauth (Vice President Human Resources Althoff Hotels, third from left).

The flagship project Digitalisierung.Tourismus impressed the jury at the Hospitality HR Award 2025 and secured second place in the Recruiting category. With innovative approaches, artificial intelligence, and team spirit, the project group proved that more can be achieved by working together.

For 18 months, the team worked on the flagship project Digitalization.Tourism to strengthen employer branding in tourism with innovative strategies. Together with Achensee Tourismus and the Job-Life Achensee initiative, the Kufstein University of Applied Sciences set new standards for positioning the Achensee region as an attractive place to work and live for skilled workers. The project was funded by the state of Tyrol. The award underscores the impact of the project and shows how creative ideas and close cooperation go hand in hand successfully.

The Hospitality HR Award from the German Hotel Academy (DHA) is an award for companies in the hotel and catering industry that implement particularly innovative and successful concepts in human resources management. The award was presented at the end of November 2025 during the Hospitality HR Summit and recognizes projects in the areas of recruiting, training, employee retention and development, and overall HR strategy. It is considered significant for the hospitality industry throughout the DACH region.

We are glad that we were able to present our project to an audience that might otherwise never have heard about it.

Franziska Schradstetter and Emily Kirchlechner

Representatives of the Digitization.Tourism project

The aim of the award is to highlight best practices and strengthen the industry for the future by showing how employers work in an attractive and employee-oriented manner. Winners benefit from increased visibility, a strong network, and additional reach within the industry.

project strengthens working and living environment 

At the event, Emily Kirchlechner, MA (Kufstein University of Applied Sciences, Tyrol) and Franziska Schradstetter, MA (Achensee Tourism) presented the key findings of the flagship project. At the heart of the project were employer branding videos that deliberately showcase the region itself as part of the employer brand. A key milestone was the integration of artificial intelligence, which uses real footage to generate automated video suggestions, reducing the amount of work involved while allowing for individual customization.

The only non-German project nominated, Digitalization.Tourism impressed in several ways: it focuses on digital solutions in recruiting, enables the easy creation of professional employer branding videos, and thus makes it easier for companies to raise the profile of their employer brand. At the same time, the project shows how regional cooperation can provide new impetus in the industry. “We are delighted that we were able to present our project to an audience that might otherwise never have heard about it. This also increases the visibility of the Kufstein University of Applied Sciences Tyrol and the Achensee region in Germany,” emphasized Kirchlechner and Schradstetter.

BEST PRACTICES FROM THE INDUSTRY

The other nominated hotels and initiatives also demonstrate that modern human resources management in the restaurant and hotel industry is anything but outdated.

Festlich gekleidete Personen stehen auf einer Bühne und halten ihre Preise in den Händen.
© Thomas Loris (DHA)

The winners of the Hospitality HR Award 2025: including Franziska Schradstetter (Achensee Tourism, third from left) and Emily Kirchlechner (FH Kufstein Tirol, fourth from left).

The Hotel Der Blaue Reiter impressed with its KAISHI trainee restaurant, and the Munich Hotel Alliance with its taste your future training fair, both of which featured innovative recruiting and training concepts. The audience was particularly moved by Café Coffee, Brownies & Downies, which, with its ten employees with disabilities, sends a strong signal for active inclusion in the primary labor market. “The award-winning concepts impressively demonstrate the power of modern HR strategies. They inspire and encourage other companies to go their own way and courageously develop new solutions,” said Merle Losem, Managing Director of the German Hotel Academy (DHA) and initiator of the Hospitality HR Awards.

STRONG TOGETHER: COOPERATION DRIVES INNOVATION FORWARD

The award impressively confirms that regional cooperation, digitalization, and the courage to break new ground are key success factors for sustainable recruiting in tourism. The approaches and tools developed in the project will continue to be refined in the future and made available to other regions and businesses.

 

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