Lots of space, lots of light, a wine and gin rack, a relaxation corner with colorful armchairs, aubenrum schone, rough pictures of kitzingen: the transitional quarters of the kitzingen tourist information office have a feel-good atmosphere. Right next to the town hall, in the former "bellissimo" clothing store, ti manager vanessa feineis and her team now bury the town's visitors for about a year and a half. The move had a few funny surprises in store. What you find when you dismantle the furniture after decades…
"Recently, more and more locals have been coming to get advice on what they can do here." vanessa feineis, TI manager
It had been clear for a long time that the listed tourist quarter on the old main bridge no longer met modern requirements. In the meantime, the building permit is available, only the demand commitment is still missing. "That had to come in the foreseeable future. And then we get started right away," says city press officer claudia biebl. "The first thing that passers-by will see from auben is that the arcades will be closed." the fubganger passage to the old mainbrucke will be integrated into the house, to make the flat there more attractive. It will take a good year before all the installations, windows and floors have been renovated, biebl predicts. "We assume, however, that the tourist season can run in 2022 in the renovated building."
Until then, the TI will reside a good 200 meters away from its current location, right next to the office of the mayor of the city of hamburg. "The manner from the building yard was super," vanessa feineis is pleased. "With their help the transport of our moving boxes and furniture was no problem."She particularly likes the spacious guest room at the alternative accommodation: "whoever comes to us this year will be received in a representative way: with a small vinotheque where kitzingen wines and gin are available, with all kinds of souvenirs and with information material that has already been presented and can be viewed at leisure on our comfortable folding chairs."Vanessa feineis spreads out her arms, laughs and says: "it gives you vacation fever! I would like to thank the building department and the main office for finding us such a great domicile for the next time – close to the retail trade and to our "mother ship", the city hall."
But will guests find here at all? Will not corona put a spoke in the tourists' wheel? Vanessa feineis shakes her head: "i"m sure that as soon as the mobile home park is allowed to open again, it will be full in no time. And as soon as it is possible to stop in again, cycle tourists and german tourists will also come here."
Especially "self-sufficient travel" is booming in times of a pandemic. This will benefit not only camping and caravan sites, but also vacation home owners and, of course, the catering trade in general. Last year already showed that "people don"t just stay in kitzingen for one or two days, but for three, four or five days to explore the whole area."
And vanessa feineis has identified another interesting trend: "because corona makes long-distance travel dangerous, many people simply stay at home and explore – often for the very first time – their immediate home. Recently, more and more local people have been coming to the site to get advice on what they can do here."
All in all, the TI boss is not worried about the future: "of course, many events that otherwise attracted guests will be cancelled. That is a great pity. But other segments are becoming stronger at the same time. I assume that germany-holidays will be written large this year and that the summer in kitzingen will be booming. I wish myself many long, sunny days."
A good omen for this could be a find that the TI team made while clearing out and dismantling the furniture in the "old" tourist information office. Besides a truly "historic" pair of tights from hofrat walter vierrether, a real lucky penny also came to light. After decades of darkness under the counter, he is now able to bring happiness to the kitzingen tourism team – which, in addition to vanessa feineis, includes the employees corinna weinkirn, eva kopf, julia then, alexander nuss, christian dotterweich, walter vierrether (court councilor), dieter franz (feineis: "our motorhome god") and detlef hildebrand (harbor master, wegewart der traumrunde) – in the interim quarters.