On 19 March 2013, the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle received the coveted International Garden of the Year Award for 2013 at the Garden Tourism Conference in Toronto, Canada. After having been named Italy’s Most Beautiful Garden in 2005 and Europe’s No. 6 Garden in 2006, the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle has now been elevated to the ranks of the world’s most illustrious gardens and parks.

The Garden Tourism Conference headquartered in Toronto, Canada, chose to present this prestigious award to the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle based upon the garden’s importance for tourism in South Tyrol and highlighted its quality, beauty and diversity. The jury was particularly impressed with Trauttmansdorff’s evolution: having opened only in 2001, the complex records more than 400,000 visitors a year during the garden season, which runs for 7.5 months. The botanical garden is thus an important driving force for the tourism industry in Merano and South Tyrol. The 19th of March, the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle received the international award during the course of the 2013 Garden Tourism Conference.

International Garden of the Year Award for 2013

“The International Garden Tourism Award is truly a special honor considering that the illustrious Singapore Botanical Garden was the previous winner. I am extremely happy that we, as a province government, had the foresight necessary to bring this extraordinary garden project to fruition, even in the face of strong opposition. What ultimately led to this level of international recognition, however, was ongoing development of the original design, a high level of maintenance, and very skillful marketing,” says the delighted Luis Durnwalder, South Tyrol’s governor and president of the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle.

Back in 2005, the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle was named Italy’s Most Beautiful Garden for its successful combination of nature, art, history and tradition as well as its spirit of innovation. Just one year later, Trauttmansdorff won another major award: Europe's No. 6 Garden. The distinction of being named the 2013 International Garden of the Year now recompenses efforts to skillfully unite and market gardens and tourism, providing economic stimulus to the region.

Since 2011, the prestigious Garden Tourism Awards have been presented at the Garden Tourism Conference. The Garden Tourism Conference takes place every two years in Toronto, Canada; it is the North American counterpart to a sister conference in Metz, France. Both of these conferences are considered to be points of reference for the development of parks and gardens within the garden tourism sector. The patrons of the Garden Tourism Awards – the Canadian Garden Tourism Council, the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA), the American Public Gardens Association (APGA) and the Garden Tourism Conference – acknowledge gardens from all around the world for outstanding contributions in the field of garden tourism. Above and beyond the international awards, acknowledgements are also given to achievements of Canadian garden tourism facilities, and noteworthy gardens and parks in the U.S. are presented.

Garden tourism is a rapidly growing sector in the tourism industry; it has gained more and more importance in the Anglo-American and German-speaking countries in particular. In fact, one out of ten tourists now indicates that a garden visit is his or her primary motivation for traveling. In his recent pivotal book Garden Tourism (2013), Richard W. Benfield reports that gardens worldwide receive more visitors than Disneyland and Disney World combined. Garden shows around the world, most of which are also urban development projects, also welcome millions of visitors. The 2012 Floriade exhibition, which takes place every ten years, registered 2.2 million visitors to Venlo (NL) in just six months.

The season at the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle opens this year on 29 March. A richly colored spring with hundreds of thousands of tulips, special events, the opening of the new Glass House in late summer 2013, the tenth anniversary of the Touriseum and much more herald an eventful garden season!

For more information, please visit:www.gardentourismconference.com

The new season at the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle opened on 29 March. The year started off with a bang: Trauttmansdorff is the International Garden of 2013. The excitement of the garden’s thirteenth year continues with the opening of the new Green House in late summer, the tenth anniversary of the Touriseum, and seven Garden Nights concerts.

WELCOMING SPRING!

The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle opened for the 2013 season on 29 March. Spectacular spring blooms welcome visitors after the winter holidays. Violets, forget-me-nots, daisies and wallflowers set the gardens aglow in vibrant colors. This interplay of colors dovetails with around 230,000 tulips and daffodils in April. Particularly unusual flower shapes enchant garden aficionados: multi-flowering tulips, fringed tulips, Murillo tulips, and parrot tulips – to name only a few.

INTERNATIONAL GARDEN OF THE YEAR 2013

On 19 March 2013, the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle received the prestigious International Garden of the Year award at the Garden Tourism Conference in Toronto, Canada. After having been named Italy’s Most Beautiful Garden in 2005 and Europe’s No. 6 Garden in 2006, this award represents the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle’s arrival at the most elite echelon of world-class gardens. The international award was ample reward for the effort it required to unite the concepts of gardens and tourism and market this synthesis in such a way as to provide an economic stimulus to the entire region. Since opening in 2001, Trauttmansdorff has quickly become South Tyrol’s most popular destination, and now welcomes more than 400,000 visitors during the garden season.

                            The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle

DISCOVER THE HIDDEN – EXPERIENCE THE EXOTIC

The Botanical Underworld, an attraction that opened in 2011, takes the visitors on a journey into the secret world of plants beneath the soil. The 2013 season is dedicated to exotic flora and fauna: In late summer, the new Glass House with its special collection of plants and a terrarium displaying unusual animals such as Egyptian desert locusts, iguanas and stick insects will intrigue visitors of all ages.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOURISEUM!

The Touriseum will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2013. This jubilee year will be fittingly celebratory, and there will be many new and exciting things for visitors to the South Tyrol’s Province Museum of Tourism to enjoy: The Urlaub/Vacanze 2.0 special exhibition deals with the question of where the rapid development of tourism over the last ten years will likely lead. Some of the historical rooms of the castle have been newly renovated, and will provide the setting for an intriguing exhibit about Trauttmansdorff Castle’s illustrious residents and guests.

EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE GARDEN SEASON

The garden’s three classic events will also take place in 2013, of course: Breakfast at Sissi’s is a lavish brunch, with classical music, served on the Sissi Terrace every Sunday in June. Trauttmansdorff After Hours is a series of Fridays in June, July and August during which the gardens and Touriseum remain open until 11:00 p.m. There are garden tours in the mild evening light, culinary specials served at Schlossgarten Restaurant, and festive cocktails at the Water Lily Pond. Artists from around the world will delight audiences on the seven evenings of the Garden Nights World Music Festival. Opening night on 13 June 2013, in fact, is two concerts in one: the Herbert Pixner Project & Manuel Randi plus Die CubaBoarsichen. Additional concert dates are 26 & 27 June, 7 & 25 July, and 15 & 22 August. Other themed and special events in the springtime include the Day of the Choirs (21 April) and the Fascination of Plants Day (18 May). In the fall, Trauttmansdorff will celebrate its second Intercultural Harvest Fest val (27 October). Every day throughout the season, there are daily tours offered that whisk adults and children alike into the wonderful world of plants.

TRAUTTMANSDORFF BY MAIL

The Italian Post Office will begin selling a stamp featuring the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle on 5 April. The value of the stamp will be € 0.70, and its circulation will be 2.8 million. It will be available for purchase in post offices as well as at the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle gift shop.

Trauttmansdorff Stamp

NEW AND IMPROVED: WWW.TRAUTTMANSDORFF.IT

The Trauttmansdorff website has been updated and newly designed just in time for the opening of the 2013 season. Visitors can now purchase tickets online, and the new website will keep them in-the-know about events, guided tours and other goings-on at the gardens.