We have created this webpage in order to communicate some very exciting information on the location, venue and Leoben in general to the players.
WTC AUSTRIA EVENT MANAGER
In order to make sure WTC is still the event we love, Kevin Zoellinger will be moving into the role of WTC Austria Event Manager. He has already been involved and helping out with WTC in the last few years on an advisory role and volunteering during the event, but for Leoben he would be the one handling on the ground operations and preparations throughout the year.
Kevin has created Alpine Cup along with Isik for the last 4 years and has been delivering on a great event already. And he has proven himself to be smart, attentive and always ready for a Plan B in case something goes wrong.
He is a lawyer by trade; has been and will be a great asset to WTC.
ARRIVING TO LEOBEN
BY CAR
For most countries within Continental Europe, driving to Leoben is an option. Leoben is very accessible because of its central location in Austria.
Parking is widely available in city and the venue, we recommend arriving to the town with your car to your accomdoation and then taking the shuttle busses we will arrange each morning and evening for the tournament.
BY TRAIN
Austria has a very developed rail system and the Leoben train station is within walking distance to both to our offered accomodations and the city center. Name of the station is “Leoben Hbf”.
BY PLANE
The closest two airports are the Wien-Schwechat and Graz-Thalerhof. After the flight you can come to Leoben by Train.
Just search for the connection from “Vienna Airport” or “Graz Airport” to “Leoben Hbf” from the link below, for both airports the train station is in the arrival terminal itself and it is a very convenient journey even with luggage.
ACCOMODATION
We have arranged special deals for WTC players where you will be be able to stay in a few accommodations near the event venue. WTC will be making the room reservation itself so rooms for players are guaranteed. The rooms will be available from the WTC website and not from a third party.
- Living Campus is a hotel with 200 people capacity, its only 20 minutes walking away from city center and has been a great place for Alpine Cup Players for the last 3 years. This hotel comes with many meeting rooms and relaxing oppurtunities for players.
- Hotel Kongress is a hotel with 130 people capacity. It is located in the city center itself. The hotel comes with seminar rooms that can be reserved ahead of time.
- Hotel Kindler is a hotel with 110 people capacity. It is located in the city center along with Hotel Kongress.
From all of the options above we will arrange shuttle busses that players can take each morning and after the games are over.
It is also possible to arrange private apartments that allow that each allow 6 to 8 people to stay at once. WTC can connect the players with the apartments for convenience.
In addition, there are more than a dozen other hotels in Leoben for players to choose from. Such as the luxurious Asia Hotel & Spa along with many other options. (LINK)
EATING AND GASTRONOMY
Considering its population, Leoben has a lot of restaurants and bars in its central square. We can also arrange any of these restaurants each night to keep open their kitchens longer or to have semi-official gatherings.
- San Marco – Italian
- Arkadenhof – Austrian Traditional
- Schwarzer Hund – Austrian Traditional
- Zur Sonne – Chinese
Along with many other restaurants and eateries. (LINK)
For evenings, there are several cafes and bars within the town center, ranging from rooftop cocktail bars to dance bars.
The above listed are just some of the favourites, there are many other options for entertainment and chilling available. (LINK)
GATHERINGS
All of the linked above restaurants and bars are located within a few hundred metres of each other. So imagine all the WTC coming together in just one area every evening for a week, whereever you look you see other players in a restaurant or bar as far as you can see.
We can designate one of these places for each evening as a gathering spot, making sure everyone is aware of where to be for any given night.
„The bar Segafredo already granted us space everyday for both inside and outside for gatherings and specials for us“
Mon- Thu until 00:00
Fri – Sun open end
VENUE
WTC Leoben Venue would be hosted in the P2 Tennis Center. This venue has already hosted an event with 360 40K players in April of 2024 with Alpine Cup.
AIR CONDITIONING:
Mobile AC units will be rented to connect to the existing ventilation system of the venue. Such an arrangement will be tested beforehand at Leoben 40K – Alpine Cup in April 2025 and will be perfected for WTC.
SOFT FLOORING:
P2 Tenniscenter, as you might discern from the name, is a tennishall. So the floor of the venue is soft for walking on. Granules will be vacuumed away before WTC starts.
FLOOR PLAN:
Currently Venue Floor Plan would look like the following for x44 40K teams;
This plan is to scale of the 2400 sqm area of the playing hall. In addition to this venue has inside and outside eating areas that can easily accomodate all the players in a spacious backyard.
View of the backyard of the venue. For WTC big umbrellas would be added.
GETTING TO THE VENUE:
Complimentary Shuttle busses will be arranged from both the center of Leoben and from Living Campus Hotel, each morning before games start and each evening after games are over. Additionally there are over 100+ parking spots available in the venue for teams arriving with their cars. (Already implemented with great success in April 2024.)
PLAYER COST / FINANCES
Players
For players, the following costs will be different.
Accomodation: Since WTC will make all the hotel bookings, we can negotiate great prices. Prices are guaranteed starting from 40€ per person in a “Double-Bed Room”, and 60-65€ in a single room with breakfast included.
For teams, “apartments” where each player sleeps in a private suite can be as low as 50€.
Eating & Drinking: All restaurant prices will be cheaper in Leoben compared to Mechelen, for about 30-50%.
Eating and drinking at the venue would be cheaper or similar for the players. Club Sandwiches would be around 2-3€ per pair, schnitzel sandwiches around 6€ with catered food options being a possibility for around 15€ on site.
Water fountain will still be available just like in Mechelen.
Tournament Tickets: WTC can reduce its ticket prices by 15-20% for attendees because of lower cost of organization.
Parking: Parking would be FREE in venue for players. Venue has enough parking for 100 cars.
Travel: Getting to Leoben initially would cost more because of the extra travel step to Leoben. But after getting to your hotel there wouldn’t be any travel costs.
Organization
For organization, the following costs will be lower.
Venue: We expect the total cost of venue to be about 25-30000€ lower for the organization because of our special and long term connection with the venue.
Subsidies: Because of Leoben’s smaller size to Mechelen, WTC is much more of an interest to local and state authorities. This means WTC can be given considerable subsidies. Such subsidies could be used to support certain teams to make their journey to WTC possible.
Local Assistance: We can hire local help, reducing the strain on our international volunteers. Such help would be experienced in what they do because of past experience on Alpine Cup. There was in total 18 non-referee help in April 2024 to assist the buildup and pack up of Alpine Cup, and locally arrangements have only been improved.
This way our referees can focus on the gaming instead of carrying tables around.
Operating Costs: Because many things are cheaper in Leoben compared to Mechelen, such as storage, rental of vehicles or other amenities such as water fountains or table rentals, we can operate the WTC on a tighter budget along with a leaner organisation structure.
Reduced Organisation Strain: We can rely on local authorities more for support, reducing things we have to do as WTC organisation. That way more focus can be given on improving the quality of life of the players.