Light Ragaz wants to further promote tourism in the region
Over the past four years, the Light Ragaz light spectacle has already delighted 100,000 visitors and the events have become an integral part of the cultural program in the Sarganserland region. Now the next step follows.
Since 2017, Light Ragaz has been taking visitors on a magical journey through the light-filled Tamina Gorge near Bad Ragaz for around five months a year. The tour with twelve light art installations presents visitors with the world’s largest natural screen for moving images and is extremely popular. In 2018, a winter edition was also realized in the heart of Bad Ragaz. With its art and culture events, Light Ragaz has successfully positioned itself as an event organizer and has welcomed around 100,000 enthusiastic visitors to date.
Taking the next steps
The event format was launched as a New Regional Policy (NRP) project – it serves to activate Bad Ragaz and the surrounding area and to increase overnight stays. The start-up funding from the federal government and canton until the end of 2020 enabled the business organization to be gradually built up and the event to be further developed over the past four years. The establishment of a public limited company in July 2019 was an important milestone for the continued existence of the Lichter Spectacle beyond the duration of the project. “The composition of the Board of Directors with regional key players is a great opportunity for Light Ragaz,” says Rosa Ilmer, Head of Business Development at Light Ragaz AG. The newly elected Chairman of the Board of Directors Beat De Coi, CEO of ESPROS Photonics AG, has been in office since May 2020 – he took over from Patrick Vogler, CEO of Grand Resort Bad Ragaz AG, after one year as planned.
It is time to take stock. Those responsible can look back on a successfully implemented project. According to Ilmer, the goals that were set have been achieved. Nevertheless, the challenges in the event sector are great and the financial risk is high. This is why Light Ragaz AG looked at new approaches early on and considered the next steps. Thinking outside the box has shown that more is needed than is already available in order to achieve a sustainable revitalization of the
New cooperation project aims to strengthen tourism
So now comes the next step.Bad Ragaz’s unique selling point is health tourism based on the 36.5 degree thermal water of the Tamina Gorge – the themes of light, water and art reflect the location and history of Bad Ragaz.”The aim must be to pack these elements into a comprehensive product that has the power to attract guests to the region all year round – regardless of the time and weather,” says Rosa Ilmer.The cooperation project “Worlds of Light and Water Bad Ragaz and Surroundings” aims to boost and promote tourism at all levels across the region in future.The project was submitted to the Tourism Council of the Canton of St. Gallen, which has pledged start-up funding for three years. A great opportunity, also from the point of view of the Chairman of the Board of Directors.”The region from Lake Walen to Sarganserland, the Bündner Herrschaft, Werdenberg and the Principality of Liechtenstein has great cultural and tourist potential.With the “Worlds of Light and Water” cooperation project, the existing offers can be made more accessible and new offers can be developed,” says Beat De Coi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Light Ragaz AG.
Recognizing and seizing opportunities
The aim of this cooperation project is to join forces even more strongly in Bad Ragaz and the surrounding area in order to give the entire region international appeal as an attractive tourist region. The resulting added value, the increase in visitor frequency (day tourism) and the generation of overnight stays are the main focus. In the first year of the project, the main objective is to develop a comprehensive concept that identifies concrete measures and their rough feasibility. A broad-based core team acts as the steering and control group, while Light Ragaz AG, with Rosa Ilmer as project manager, is responsible for overall coordination.
The members of the core team see great potential in the project. Entrepreneur Marco Weishaupt hopes to anchor the tourism positioning of the entire region in the long term. CEO of Heidiland Tourismus AG, Orlando Bergamin, who was brought on board early on, finds the holistic approach particularly exciting in order to be able to offer future guests an even more authentic experience in the region. “It will be interesting to see what develops from this,” says Rosa Ilmer.
