Nature, Sustainability and New Markets
Interview with Thomas Wilken, Managing Director of Vila Vita Ferienanlage Pannonia Betriebsgesellschaft mbH
Vila Vita Pannonia shines as a nature resort in Seewinkel not only as an attractive holiday destination in the charming Burgenland, but also as an attractive event and conference venue. In the interview with Wirtschaftsforum, Managing Director Thomas Wilken explained the lifestyle that should be conveyed there and how the company wants to emphasize its sustainable posture more clearly in the future.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Wilken, since the beginning of the year, you have been managing Vila Vita Pannonia, the nature resort in Seewinkel, Burgenland – what does it offer?
Thomas Wilken: Quite a bit. On our 200-hectare site, you will find, among other things, 199 residential units – nowadays only a few of them are in the actual hotel building, as in recent years numerous bungalows and residences have been developed by the lake and in the park. In addition to various restaurants, we also impress our guests with a wide range of sports offerings including the necessary facilities: an indoor tennis court, three outdoor tennis courts, as well as soccer, mini-golf, and beach volleyball areas. Additional amenities include an extensive wellness area with indoor and outdoor pools, a natural swimming pond, and a bathing lake with islands, where our guests can rent pedal boats and stand-up paddleboards. Our young guests, meanwhile, have a great time at our Villa Kunterbunt, featuring things like bounce houses and outdoor survival areas where they can build fishing rods under the guidance of our instructors and then go fishing directly in the pond.
Wirtschaftsforum: Being close to nature is also an important guiding principle of your resort.
Thomas Wilken: Absolutely – for which we also maintain a small riding stable with horses and ponies, as well as goats, sheep, white donkeys, and mini cattle on loan from the national park. Our orchard has over 1,000 apple, pear, and cherry trees, the produce of which we naturally also sustainably utilize – among other things, in collaboration with a distillery in our region. We want to further sharpen this sustainable, nature-committed profile in the near future: because with our orchards, we have already established a functioning farm-to-table concept, which would be hard for other market participants to copy.
Wirtschaftsforum: Is sustainability becoming increasingly important to your guests?
Thomas Wilken: Sustainability has definitely always been a core value for our property, which is reflected, among other things, in our consistent closeness to nature. In addition, we have installed many solar panels and also operate our own heating power plant, which we feed with wood chips from our own forest, among other sources. The issue of waste prevention is also now very high on our agenda. Furthermore, we are working on solutions for almost chemical-free cleaning processes, such as using micro dry steam. The fact that we were awarded the Austrian Eco-label is seen by us not only as an honor, but also as a commitment to the future – because if you call yourself a nature resort, you must consistently embody these values.
Wirtschaftsforum: At the same time, you want to continue positioning Vila Vita Pannonia as a strong event venue.
Thomas Wilken: This is important for us for structural reasons, as it allows us to ensure permanent utilization throughout the year – Burgenland is primarily an attractive holiday destination in the summer. Our Seewinkelhalle can accommodate up to 700 people, and if necessary, our tennis hall can also be converted accordingly. In addition to weddings and larger local events such as a sports gala, where the top athletes of Burgenland are regularly honored, we also host many multi-day training programs. With the rapid turn-arounds associated with them, it is particularly evident that our staff has grown into a well-coordinated team over the years.
Wirtschaftsforum: Will the guest segments of your establishment also change in the future?
Thomas Wilken: We are located geographically at the very east of Austria, and sometimes people here think only up to the border. But that is incorrect, as the border does not mark the end – especially for us interesting markets open up across it. Besides Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava are also just about two and a half hours by car from our resort, which means we are close to three European capitals. We aim to more precisely target these customer segments in the neighboring countries in the near future.