30 Million Euro for Mega Project in Austria

(eap) Sonnentherme Lutzmannsburg, located in the Austrian federal state of Burgenland, reportedly surpassed the milestone of 300,000 overnight stays in the past year, recording an increase of 10.9 percent in overnight numbers. Since the opening of the thermal resort in 1994, total investments of around 90 million euro have been made and approximately 300 jobs have been created. However, the resort management team led by Managing Director Werner Cerutti (m.) indicated that it did not intend to rest on these achievements. In the presence of representatives from business and politics, ambitious plans for an investment project totalling 30 million euro were announced yesterday.

As part of the next expansion phase, the family-oriented resort is to be extended by a large-scale water slide complex covering an area of 1,670 square metres. Plans include seven mega slides – even a world first is set to be realized within this attraction lineup, an indoor relaxation area with 200 loungers, as well as additional shower and toilet facilities. The slides will start from a 19-metre-high new tower with a spacious landing hall, which will be connected to the existing slide tower via a bathrobe corridor. Another special feature of this project is the variety of large slides from a total of three suppliers, five of which will come from WhiteWater West. In addition to an Abyss slide, an Aquatube Speedslide, a Parallel Pursuit Racer, and a 300-meter-long Master Blaster, WhiteWater will also install the world’s first Helix Twist slide in Lutzmannsburg. The Swiss company Klarer will supply a Magic Tube with fake elements. And Wiegand.Waterrides will provide a double Lotus slide for Sonnentherme. This will enable the Austrian thermal spa resort to develop into a new destination for slide fans and families with children, as well as teenagers.

In addition, a photovoltaic system covering an area of approximately one hectare is planned to be installed at the rear of the thermal resort to ensure autonomous energy supply. The system is planned to deliver a total output of 1.5 megawatts and is to include a large-scale storage unit with a capacity of around 522 kilowatt hours and an output of approximately 250 kilowatts.

“The Sonnentherme shows how it can be done: within ten years – even though this period also included the COVID-19 pandemic – annual overnight stays were increased from 224,000 to more than 300,000. Today, the Lutzmannsburg thermal spa resort is an important tourist flagship well beyond the region,” emphasized Burgenland Governor Hans Peter Doskozil. He continued by stating that, historically, the decision by predecessors in Burgenland to invest in thermal spa destinations such as Frauenkirchen, Lutzmannsburg, Stegersbach and Bad Tatzmannsdorf had been among the most correct and important ones. These destinations, he noted, revitalized the region, created added value and ensured employment opportunities for people living there. A next important step for the Lutzmannsburg thermal spa location could be to “develop a destination with foresight that could possibly reach a scale comparable to family theme parks in Germany.”

The construction and implementation plans for the major project are expected to be completed by autumn of this year, with the start of construction scheduled for the first quarter of 2027. ■