From mid-May

In Oberwart: end of free parking at the exhibition center

The parking machines at Messe Oberwart are not yet active. This is set to change from mid-May

(Bild: Carina Fenz)

From mid-May, around 700 parking spaces around the exhibition grounds in Oberwart will be managed. Visitors to trade fairs, sporting events and long-term parkers will then also have to dig deep into their pockets - the mandatory charge applies around the clock.

Only recently there was a lot of anger in Oberwart when parking offenders were confronted with hefty fines during the open days at the new clinic. The ensuing debate was also unavoidable: while some said that the town had earned a good penny from an unprecedented event with 25,000 visitors, others spoke of an expensive oversight for which the parking offenders themselves were responsible. However, the "buck stops here" as a city and once again refers to the ordinance that has been in force around the hospital since 2020. The fact that the new district, in which the trade fair, stadium and schools - already high traffic generators - is now being expanded to include the new clinic with around 1,300 employees and the school campus does not make the parking situation any easier.

The gravel parking lot at the Inform site will also be subject to charges for cars in future.

(Bild: Carina Fenz)

Unpopular measure to protect parking spaces for own customers
From mid-May - a specific date has not yet been set - parking space management will now also be extended around the exhibition grounds. Around 700 parking spaces will then be subject to charges around the clock, explains Inform Events Managing Director Roland Poiger. We are aware that this is an unpopular measure, but we have to protect the parking spaces owned by Inform Events for our own customers. Another reason for this is that these parking spaces are in great demand as permanent parking spaces for employees, visitors and patients of the clinic as well as schoolchildren. 

There are exactly 830 parking spaces in the Gesundheit Burgenland parking garage. Half an hour there costs 70 cents.

(Bild: Carina Fenz)

Oberwart Clinic with over 800 parking spaces in the parking garage
Gesundheit Burgenland refers to its own parking garage with over 800 parking spaces. The parking garage will be open to the public from the start of patient operations on May 7. The parking rate is 70 cents per half hour or part thereof (maximum amount: 14 euros per day). Parking tickets can be paid for at one of the parking machines. Two are located in the parking garage, one in the clinic. Employees can park in the Gesundheit Burgenland parking garage at a fixed rate. 

The parking spaces at the exhibition center will cost 1.50 euros per hour in the future - after four hours, the maximum price is 8 euros. You can park for 80 euros per month.

(Bild: Carina Fenz)

From 1.50 euros per hour to 80 euros per month
In future, a rate of 1.50 euros will be charged per hour at the exhibition center, from the 4th hour the maximum rate will be 8 euros and after 7 p.m. the ticket price will fall by 0.50 cents per hour - with a maximum rate of 5 euros. A monthly ticket costs around 80 euros. However, the 24-hour management also hits visitors to trade fair events and sports grounds hard. "We are still in the process of negotiating sponsorship agreements," explains Poiger. 

Three different prices for parking
When the parking space management system comes into force at the trade fair and the parking garage of the new Oberwart Hospital opens, there will be three different price categories for parking around the district. The streets around the hospital, which are managed by the municipality, will cost 60 cents per half hour.

For visitors to the sports grounds, the introduction of parking charges will result in lower admission prices.

(Bild: P. Huber)

Visitors to the trade fair will also have to pay for parking in future.

(Bild: P. Huber)

Sports ground visitors can look forward to cheaper admission prices
Although not happy, SVO President Gerhard Horn is also keen to find a sensible solution and sees the sponsorship agreement as an important deal to avoid being left to bear the costs alone. "The fact is that we will have to lower the admission prices if we don't want to upset our visitors and we have to make an exception for VIP guests," says Horn. A similar solution will also be negotiated with the Oberwarter Gunners, Poiger hints. Markus Tuider, Managing Director of Burgenland-Messe, is also cautious when it comes to parking fees. "It's good that money is being spent on renovating the parking areas and maintaining the exhibition grounds. On the other hand, Oberwart is certainly not the first town where parking spaces are not free," says Tuider.

The aim of this unpopular measure is also to encourage more people to travel by bus. The offer is better than ever before, says Inform Events Managing Director Roland Poiger.

(Bild: Huber Patrick)

Getting more people to use public transport
But one thing is also clear: "The best parking space is always the one that you don't need and the second best is the one that you do need. With this in mind, management is also an opportunity to encourage people to use public transport more," says Poiger.