The Tourism Technology Festival 3.0 transformed Salzburg, Austria, into a vibrant hub for digital tourism innovation. Held at the "Alles für den GAST" Fair from November 8 to 9, 2025, the event gathered 126 participants and partners representing cities worldwide including Berlin, Frankfurt, Ingolstadt, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Bratislava, London, Budapest, Prizren, Skopje, Tokyo and Graz. With 31 teams collaborating across six distinct challenges, the festival demonstrated the power of collective creativity. Participants developed solutions addressing critical tourism challenges such as sustainable mobility, guest experience enhancement, and AI-driven crowd management. Notably, one-third of attendees stayed overnight, reflecting the event's immersive nature. Teams presented their prototypes within a strict two-minute timeframe to a distinguished jury, with the evaluation process weighted 65% on presentation quality and 35% on technical execution.

Photos: (C) Michael Venier / virtkreativ

The festival's winning projects showcased remarkable technical ingenuity and practical application. Looking.com secured first place in the Hotel Challenge with an AI agent connecting to a hotel PMS and guiding customers through the whole booking process. Other standout solutions included SalzPass, which transformed Salzburg's Guest Mobility Ticket into a digital companion rewarding sustainable travel, and TourSight, an AI platform predicting visitor numbers for tourism attractions. The technical evaluation was led by a highly qualified jury including Dr. Marian Lux, CEO of LuxActive and SWISDATA, alongside experts such as further outstanding Austrian CEOs, Data Experts, Data Analysts, Makers and Developers in Tourism. Dr. Lux and the technical jury assessed projects based on interactions, conversations, used data and technical implementation, ensuring solutions met real-world sustainability and usability standards.

Participants gained access to significant future opportunities through festival prizes. Ten randomly selected attendees earned the chance to join a Mobility & AI Hackathon in Mexico City, Mexico, from November 22 to 23, 2025, with 500 euros in travel reimbursement. Another prize offered a Winter Olympics experience in Cortina, Italy, next February. These pathways highlight the festival's commitment to global collaboration. The event also provided essential resources including AI credits on the One Intelligence Platform. With projects like FairStay and SalzDash already demonstrating scalable impact, the festival has set a new benchmark for technology-driven sustainable tourism solutions.

The Tourism Technology Festival 3.0 successfully united global innovators to tackle tourism's most pressing challenges through six focused AI and mobility challenges. With Dr. Marian Lux of LuxActive and SWISDATA playing a pivotal role as a technical jury member, the event validated solutions that balance visitor experience with environmental responsibility. The festival's prizes and international opportunities now empower participants to scale their innovations, proving that technology can transform tourism into a more sustainable, equitable, and enjoyable industry for travelers and communities alike.