IRAK DIE WIEGE DER ZIVILISATION

L’AUTRICHE VIENNA
Im Nachbau des Café Central
in der Grand Central Station,
New York, konnten die Gäste
live mit Gästen im Wiener
Original plaudern.
In the replica of Café Central
in Grand Central Station, New
York, a live link-up enabled
guests to communicate with
guests in the original café in
Vienna.
absolute numbers in the German market helped us
make up for the drop in the Russian market and we
were able to achieve considerable rates of growth in
all of our main markets – apart from Russia and Japan.
This shows us that not only city tourism is
booming like never before but also that Vienna’s
growth rate is above the trend. Vienna has gained a
greater market share and that is naturally a credit to
the city.
Why has Vienna been performing so well recently?
Vienna has actually been performing well for many
years. Except for 2009 when we felt the impact of the
financial and economic crisis. Many factors have
contributed to its success: we notice every new flight
to Vienna and the contribution by the new hotels,
which do their own marketing and attract their own
guests and groups jointly with us to Vienna. And
when I look at the situation in the overseas markets,
I see a new trend: if you travel to Europe, you just
have to visit Vienna; this wasn’t always the case. We
can feel it and we benefit from it.
How do you explain this new interest in Vienna?
The development of the city is the reason. Destination
marketing means we are competing globally; we
can talk openly about what is really happening in this
city. Vienna is still known as the beautiful, elegant
and timeless city. However, Vienna, is also one of the
youngest and one of the fastest growing towns in
Europe with the highest quality of life. People have
noticed this. Vienna is the largest University city in a
German-speaking country, a conference town, a
meeting-place. Vienna is a town of expats – 25.000
expats live here. The product ‘Vienna’ has massively
transformed itself and is now being radiated all over
the world.
What does a glimpse into the future look like?
Our tourism concept for the year 2020 has the baseline:
global, smart and premium. This means: we
want Vienna to remain being a global town and to
grow even more – therefore, the expats and the international
organisations are extremely important to us.
The tourism association is only responsible for a
PHOTOS: EDDY GILL, PHILIP ANGERT
small part of a town’s image; expats are just as important,
as are the diplomats, international organisations,
celebrities, film productions, politicians. It is
our job to steer everything a little. When we say
smart, we mean an intelligent town not only in the
sense of technology but also intelligent in the sense
of living side-by-side. We are living in a postmodern
refraction, and there are so many tourists in the
world as never before, but nobody wants to be a tourist.
Visitors want to soak up the local atmosphere! It
is easy to participate in Viennese life. ‘Premium’ has
nothing to do with luxury, instead we’re trying to deliver
the best possible quality in all areas. We want to
present Vienna as a valuable city, not a city out of
touch with the real world..
What are the benefits of events such as public screenings in
front of the Sydney Opera House or the coffee shop in Grand
Central Station in New York, which you recently organised?
It attracts attention. If you are trending on Twitter
after just one event in Australia, then that means attention,
and this happened with a target group which
is otherwise difficult to reach. We are active in more
than twenty markets and that with a manageable
budget of 14 or 15 million euro. That’s not a lot. So
you have to pool together and invest in media strategies.
And create relevance. If there are 3.000 mainly
young people at a public screening at Sydney Harbour
who maybe do not know every single piece
played at the opera but who watch it all wide-eyed,
then we’ve not only made people aware of Vienna as
a destination but also of an important asset for us,
namely classical music. This is an important issue:
how can I revamp classical content so that young
people will also find it exciting. Withering away in
the ivory tower is of no use to us at all.
Spektakuläre Wien-Inszenierung am Dach
des Opernhauses von Sydney.
Spectacular Vienna production on the roof of
the Sydney Opera House.
BEST IB DIPLOMA PASS
RATES in AUSTRIA
2013 – 97.7%
2014 – 100%
IB World School
Aged 3-­‐18 570 students
Family-­‐orientated
Friendly, Focused & Fun
Improvement Driven
Central Elegant Location
Vienna Boy’s Choir
Friday Afternoons
‘striving for
EXCELLENCE, by
ENGAGING minds,
EXCITING learners,
acting ETHICALLY and
showing EMPATHY’
FOTOS: XYXXYXYXY
Camerata Schulz
Artistic Director: Gerald Wirth
Every Friday at 5.30 pm
8 May – 26 June 2015
78 Cercle Diplomatique 1/2015
DANUBE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL VIENNA
2 JOSEF GALL GASSE, 1020
registrar@danubeschool.com
www.danubeschool.com
01 720 3110 22
Tickets: Tel. +43 1 347 80 80, www.muth.at or at the Box Office
Konzertsaal der Wiener Sängerknaben
Am Augartenspitz 1, 1020 Wien
Cercle Diplomatique 1/2015
79
Penthouse Perfection Photo: lukasbeck.com