Leaking of Promotional Code Ends Alps Train Travel Promotion

7th August 2025

The Sud Tirol region in the Italian Alps by the Austrian border launched a project to encourage train use for tourists rather than driving.

Guests who had booked accommodation in Sud Tirol between July 15th and September 15th received discounts on train tickets if they arrived by rail.

Accommodation providers could pass the code to guests and relevant accommodation providers received the code exclusively for this purpose.

However, the initiative had to be stopped after the promo code was published by various media outlets.

It enabled people to buy cheaper train tickets even if they were not staying in the recommended accommodation.

If successful the promotion may have been extended to the winter months.

Val Gardena, Sud Tirol. Image © PlanetSKI

“The aim of the campaign was to get thousands of cars off Sud Tirol’s roads during rush hour,” said Wolfgang Töchterle, the Marketing Director at Innovation Development Marketing Sud Tirol.

“The campaign had the potential to do this. However,we had to stop the campaign because high-reach local media made public the promo code that enabled discounted travel.”

“In the short time that the promotion ran, we were still able to gain some important initial insights.

“I very much regret that the careless publication of the code meant that we were unable to carry out the campaign.

“It denied us a pragmatic approach to solving key transport problems.”