Best Practice Series — Vol. 06: Camping Natterer See — 95 Years of Entrepreneurial Vision in the Alps

Most of the best stories in hospitality don't begin with a business plan. They begin with someone looking at a piece of land that everyone else has given up on — and deciding it could become something no one has imagined yet.

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The Swamp That Became a Lake

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In 1928, Josef Giner faced a problem familiar to second sons in Austrian farming families. He had a small plot of land — three or four hectares — and eight children to feed during one of the worst economic crises of the 20th century. Among his land was a low-lying, swampy basin, permanently waterlogged, useless for farming. The neighbouring farmers thought the land was worthless. Josef looked at it and saw a lake.

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He diverted a small mountain stream into the basin. In 1930, the lake opened to the public — 1.5 hectares of clean alpine water, a small wooden changing hut, a veranda for watching the Karwendel mountains. Josef died in an accident at just 45 years old. But the lake remained. Today, Ferienparadies Natterer See covers 15 hectares, employs nearly 60 people in high season, operates restaurants, a water park, glamping accommodation across multiple typologies, floating lake homes, and the newly opened Secret Koi Garden. It is recognised as Austria's first glamping resort.

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I don't simply copy what other campsites do. I travel extensively, visit trade fairs, observe trends, and find unique solutions that keep us at the top. My goal has always been to introduce something that nobody else has done yet. — Georg Giner, Owner

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Three Generations of Reinvention

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The current custodian, Georg Giner Jr., took over in 1996 and has spent the three decades since systematically adding layers of innovation to the site his grandfather built. In 2012, sleeping barrels arrived — simple, sculptural pine structures grouped around a communal gazebo. Then, in 2015, came the move that defined Natterer See's position in the Austrian market: the launch of the Nature Resort, featuring safari lodge tents and wood lodges with private bathrooms, Tyrolean alpine design, and panoramic mountain views. Georg Giner is direct: he was the first person in Austria to introduce the glamping resort concept.

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Most recently, the Secret Koi Garden opened — seven private glamping pods, fully enclosed behind tall hedges and accessible only by electronic key, each named after a specific Koi breed, with a dedicated pond stocked with the corresponding fish that guests can feed during their stay. A private sauna. Breakfast delivered to the pod. An experience designed specifically for couples seeking something between a luxury hotel and the outdoors.

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The Innsbruck Advantage

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One of the structural advantages of Natterer See is its relationship to Innsbruck — just 7 kilometres away. The site offers a free shuttle bus from two nights' stay. When travellers search for Innsbruck accommodation on Booking.com and apply a price filter, Natterer See appears — positioned not as a campsite but as an alternative lodging option with a lake, a water park, mountain views, and a direct transport link to the city. This urban proximity is not incidental. It is one of the core reasons the site operates across a longer season than almost any comparable property in the Alpine region.

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The Giner family has been asking the same question for 95 years: what haven't we built yet? The answer, in each generation, has been the thing nobody else had thought of yet. They are not done.

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For anyone building an outdoor hospitality concept in the DACH region, Natterer See is the most locally relevant and chronologically deep reference point available.

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