Introducing Salzburg

Twelve years ago, I started working in tourism in Salzburg. At the time, it was a summer job as a Rikscha driver. A way to pay the bills and fund my travel while sharing my hometown with its visitors. But like many people who try to leave Salzburg, I realized I wasn’t trying to leave the place. I just hadn’t found the right way to grow within it.

I used to think I had to leave to do meaningful work. I chased ideas abroad, spent winters in Spain, explored projects outside of Salzburg, even outside of tourism. I didn’t want to get stuck. But each time I tried to build something somewhere else, I kept circling back. Salzburg stayed in my head, even when I wasn’t here.

Eventually I realized: I wasn’t trying to leave the place. I just hadn’t yet figured out how to grow with it.

This article isn’t about another tour company. It’s not a pitch, and it’s definitely not an “insider top 10.” It’s the story of why Introducing Salzburg needed to exist and what we’re actually building here.

From Tour Guide to Builder

My first proper business was Free Walking Tour Salzburg. I built it from scratch. For three years, I was the only guide. I wrote the script, led the tours, built the website, and stood in the rain waiting for guests who may or may not show up.

It worked. We built trust. Reviews came in. A team formed. But I realized something early: no matter how successful the tour company became, it would never become a platform.

You can only scale so far when your business depends on people showing up in person. And you can only collaborate so deeply when your identity is tied to “just” one kind of tour, no matter how well it’s run.

That realization was the seed. I wanted to build something bigger than a tour. I wanted a place where all of my Salzburg work, and all of the people I worked with, could finally live under one roof.

The Attempts (That Taught Me What to Build)

I tried other ventures:

• Roam Austria, a nationwide blog, gave me freedom but it lacked the depth and local trust I had in Salzburg.
• Koreanischkurs, our online Korean school, had nothing to do with tourism, but it taught me how to build scalable content systems and manage digital products.
• Reviving Rikschatours was fun but again, it was too narrow.
• Exclusive Explorations offered the luxury tour angle. But even that felt like one piece of a puzzle.

Each project had value. But none of them, on their own, could grow into something meaningful enough. I wasn’t looking to build an empire, I was looking for a home base.

So I stopped looking outward. I looked right at Salzburg.

Introducing Salzburg: A Platform, Not a Business Card

Introducing Salzburg is the result of a long, messy journey, not a clean startup pitch.

It’s not a brand in the marketing sense. It’s a structure. A system. A home.

• It hosts content: blog posts, curated guides, a smart directory, and eventually, full travel video libraries.
• It connects: all of our sub-brands, Free Walking Tour Salzburg, Rikschatours, Exclusive Explorations, live in its ecosystem.
• It scales: not by adding noise, but by going deeper. Deeper content. Deeper trust. Deeper local knowledge.
• It builds: partnerships with hotels, events, and creators, all on an eye-level basis, not through ad buys or fake enthusiasm.

And most of all, it gives us a voice that’s more useful than any tourist office website and more honest than TripAdvisor reviews.

Because it’s written by people who actually live here.

The Structure: Blog, Directory, Video

We publish three types of content. Each stands alone, but they’re strongest together.

1. The Blog
   This is the core. Long-form guides, detailed walk-throughs, honest advice. Structured around questions travelers actually ask:
   • “Is the Salzburg Card worth it?”
   • “What to do if it rains?”
   • “Where to eat near the fortress that isn’t overpriced?”
2. The Directory
   A curated list of the places, tours, and experiences we believe in with context. No one pays to be featured. No ads. Every entry is fact-checked and tied into blog posts or videos.
3. The YouTube Channel
   This is the endgame. We’re rebranding our tour channel into Introducing Salzburg, a visual guide to the region that tells the real story. Think narrated, structured videos designed to actually help people picture their trip.

Video is where this all leads. It’s the most personal format. And it’s what we love doing most.

Why It Had to Be Built From Scratch

You might ask couldn’t we just partner with an existing platform? Build content on someone else’s site? Stay a tour operator and do “content marketing” on the side?

We tried.

But existing platforms were too shallow. Too generic. Too reliant on ads, gimmicks, or influencer tricks.

We wanted full control. Not to be in the conversation, but to host it.

So we built it. Page by page. Tour by tour. Video by video.

No external funding. No shortcuts.

Why It’s Not Just About Tourism

At first glance, Introducing Salzburg is a travel platform.

But look closer and you’ll see it’s more than that. It’s where everything we’ve done, from running tours to writing blog posts to answering the same questions at hostel reception night after night finally fits together.

This isn’t based on some quick course or polished guidebook knowledge. Our experience comes from living inside Salzburg’s tourism scene for over a decade. From riding a Rikscha into every corner of the old town. From working in hostels, answering real questions from real people. From hosting hundreds of Couchsurfers in our own home. And from walking these streets every day, not just for work, but for life.

Introducing Salzburg isn’t just about sightseeing. It’s about understanding a place. We cover local life, history, events, food, transport, timing, and more in ways that help travelers move through the city with clarity and confidence.

Over time, this will include:

• Personal articles about how Salzburg shifts through the seasons
• Local opinion pieces (not just “what to do,” but why it matters)
• Features that spotlight creators, guides, and small businesses who actually live it

The Goal: Outhelp the Tourist Office

We don’t need to be the biggest.

We want to be the most useful. The most honest. The most human.

When someone searches “how to plan a Salzburg trip,” we want our blog to show up.

When they search YouTube for “best views in Salzburg,” we want our video to feel like a friend explaining it, not a paid promotion.

When they’re ready to book, we want them to feel like they already know us. Because they’ve been watching. Reading. Trusting.

That’s how we win.

Where We’re Headed

We’re building slowly but intentionally.

First: Cover Salzburg fully. Every must-see and should-see spot. Every good place to eat. Every walk worth taking. Every tip that helps someone spend their time well.

Then: Expand to the surrounding region — Hallstatt, Golling, Berchtesgaden. Then Vienna. Then Munich. Carefully. Based on relevance, not reach.

Always: Keep Salzburg at the center.

Because this isn’t just where the project is based. It’s where we’re from. It’s what keeps pulling us back. And it’s where we’ve finally built the platform we needed all along.

So What Is Introducing Salzburg, Really?

It’s a content-led umbrella brand.
It’s a travel media project.
It’s a long-term bet on quality, honesty, and depth.

But most of all, it’s the place where everything comes together.

If you’re planning a trip to Salzburg, start here.

If you’re building a travel brand and want to work together, reach out.