Arlberg Marketing GmbH is the destination marketing organization for the Arlberg ski region in western Austria, representing the resorts of St. Anton am Arlberg, St. Christoph, Stuben, Zürs and Lech. The company was established in 2006 as a joint venture of the five tourism destinations and is registered in St. Anton am Arlberg.[1][2]
Design and History
The current Arlberg logo was unveiled on 8 March 2007 at the ITB travel trade fair in Berlin. The new word-and-image mark was presented jointly by the tourism directors of Lech Zürs, St. Anton am Arlberg and Stuben.[3]
The identity was developed through a competitive pitch process overseen by curator Reinhard Gassner. A seven-member expert jury, which included Berlin designer Erik Spiekermann, selected the winning entry from the Vienna agency Bohatsch Visual Communication.[3] A competing design studio later confirmed that Walter Bohatsch won the pitch.[4]
According to the official press release, the previous lettering of the individual resort logos was retained in its core but modernized and adapted to new visual requirements. The resort marks were placed alongside the new Arlberg logo in an updated typeface.[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The logo consists of a five-pointed star combined with a distinctive but restrained wordmark. Each point of the star represents one of the five regional resorts: Lech, Zürs, Stuben, St. Christoph and St. Anton.[3]
The star was designed to work as a standalone pictorial mark to ensure global recognition of the winter sports region. According to Gerhard Walter, tourism director of Lech Zürs at the time, the star is associated with quality and top performance, and the graphic design also drew on natural imagery including the sun, snow, crystals and alpine flora.[3]
The shared logo is rendered in gold. Following the launch, it was applied to all promotional materials of the individual tourism associations, and member businesses could integrate the word-and-image mark into their own advertising through a licensing process.[3]
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