Tourism: Meschede and Bestwig reaffirm successful cooperation

Jointly presenting and publicising the region's tourism strengths - that is the basic idea behind the "Around the Hennesee" Tourist Association (TAG). Since 2004, the district and university town of Meschede and the municipality of Bestwig have been working together in this way to promote tourism. Now the two mayors Christoph Weber (Meschede) and Ralf Péus (Bestwig) have reaffirmed their co-operation.

At Lake Hennesee - one of the tourist "hotspots" of the two municipalities - the mayors signed an update of the public-law agreement, which forms the contractual basis for the cooperation. For Christoph Weber, the cooperation is a real success story: "As an attractive tourism location in the heart of the Sauerland, we are becoming much more recognisable in this way." Ralf Péus adds that a good tourist infrastructure is not only an important plus point for visitors to the region, but also for locals and the local economy: "A high recreational value is part of the quality of life for local people and a location factor for our companies in the competition for skilled labour."

TAG Managing Director Norbert Arens emphasises that there are numerous offers in Meschede and Bestwig that make the local region attractive for tourism - at the top of the list on the Meschede side is the Hennesee, in the municipality of Bestwig the Fort Fun Adventureland and the Sauerland visitor mine Ramsbeck. Nevertheless, the two municipalities have much more to offer, says Norbert Arens: "We have dedicated and highly professional hosts, a diverse catering industry and numerous volunteers who put their heart and soul into strengthening our location - for example our tour guides."

TAG's task is to support such offers and publicise them to the outside world. There are two tourist information centres in Meschede at the central bus station and in Bestwig in the former railway station building. It is precisely here that the cooperation between the two municipalities creates opportunities that would not be available on their own - Norbert Arens: "We can leverage synergies and offer opening hours with the tourist information centres that are not available in the town halls - six days a week."

The new electric catamaran, which will be travelling on Lake Henne as a passenger ship in future, is also set to become an important tourist highlight in the region. Assembly work is currently underway on the ship, which is expected to start operating in September of this year. Together, the two mayors and the tourism managers were able to take a first look at the almost 40-metre-long ship, which weighs around 60 tonnes.