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Tourism & Cultural Leadership at Esterházy
Tourism development · Culture · Events
Head of Tourism, Culture & Events
100+
Employees
95,500
Opera & Concerts · 2023
153,000
Schloss exhibition visits · 2023
+28% vs. 2022
8
Departments
3
Managing director roles
Leading tourism,
culture & events.
As Head of Tourism, Culture & Events at Esterházy, Michael Sowa held overall strategic, operational and commercial responsibility for the business division. He led a multi-department organisation of more than 100 employees through its management team.
His remit brought together tourism development, cultural programmes and heritage destinations — with responsibility for budgets, sales, marketing and operations. A central focus was connecting artistic quality with commercial performance and strengthening the region around Lake Neusiedl and Eisenstadt as a cultural tourism destination.
Michael Sowa speaking at Oper im Steinbruch – Carmen
MICE team – tourism and business events
Turning a cultural portfolio
into a connected destination.
“At Esterhazy, my focus was on connecting our cultural destinations with the wider region around Lake Neusiedl. Schloss Esterházy and Oper im Steinbruch were central to that approach: bringing heritage and performance together with landscape, wine and hospitality to give visitors reasons to explore, stay longer and return.”
Michael Sowa
Michael Sowa strengthened the commercial organisation behind Esterhazy’s tourism and cultural portfolio: centralising sales, expanding tourism and MICE distribution, and developing combined offers across heritage sites, festivals and hospitality partners. The aim was to encourage longer stays and create more opportunities for guests to experience the region.
Digital development & centralised sales
He also drove digital development across the portfolio, including the redesign of the Oper im Steinbruch website and the centralisation of event management and sales systems in collaboration with KPMG.
In 2023, Schloss Esterházy recorded 153,000 exhibition visits — approximately 28% more than in 2022. Carmen at Oper im Steinbruch attracted nearly 90,000 visitors, while the Herbstgold Festival welcomed around 5,500. These results show the scale and audience reach of the portfolio he led with his management team.
Sources: Schloss Esterházy · Carmen 2023 · Herbstgold 2023
Schloss Esterházy &
Burg Forchtenstein.
Strategic and operational responsibility for Schloss Esterházy and Burg Forchtenstein, with a focus on cultural tourism, marketing and the visitor experience.
At Schloss Esterházy, exhibitions such as Haydn explosiv, guided tours and concerts in the Haydnsaal make cultural heritage accessible in different ways. Connecting these experiences with tourism was central to the role.
- Cultural marketing and communications
- Tourism sales and international positioning
- Visitor experiences and guest services
- Exhibitions and guided tours in cooperation with teams
Schloss Esterházy – tourism partnership
Haydn’s legacy. Opening doors to music.
“It was important to me to open Schloss Esterházy as a living place of encounter. The exhibitions told the story of Haydn and his world; in the Haydnsaal, that legacy came to life through outstanding musicians such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. My aim was to connect these experiences and inspire people to come to the concert hall who had previously had little contact with classical music.”
Michael Sowa
His tourism, management and cultural marketing responsibilities involved close collaboration with Andreas Richter, responsible for the artistic programme of classic.Esterhazy; Julian Rachlin, Artistic Director of the Herbstgold Festival; and Daniel Serafin, Artistic Director of Oper im Steinbruch.
With the internationally acclaimed Chamber Orchestra of Europe as orchestra in residence at Schloss Esterházy, the concert programme brought outstanding musicians to the Haydnsaal. Cultural marketing and tourism partnerships helped connect this artistic quality with audiences beyond the established concert community.
Head of Tourism, Culture & Events · 01.01.–31.12.2023.
Reporting to the foundation board. Member of the Sustainability Board.
Managing director: Schloss Esterhazy Management GmbH; Arenaria GmbH; Piedra Steinbruch Betriebs GmbH.