Developed Through Dialog
A strong foundation for the future
Every city needs a plan for the future direction of its tourism. But this isn’t something that should be decided behind closed doors by a select few – it’s the result of a broad collaborative process involving countless stakeholders, experts, participants, and other individuals. The Vienna Tourist Board, the organization responsible for destination marketing and destination management in the city, oversees this process and invites all stakeholders to participate in it. It’s worth being part of the future solution for tourism. Businesses and organizations stand to benefit from it.
Focus on quality and sustainability
After the successful implementation of the Visitor Economy Strategy 2025 – in spite of some adjustments to the objectives to reflect the Covid-19 pandemic, the city has since managed to return to, and in some cases surpass, pre-crisis 2018 levels – it was time to lay the groundwork for the next period. What was important, what mattered most? What did the experts and professionals have to say? In May 2024, as part of a review process for the 2025 Strategy, more than 100 representatives and decision-makers from the Visitor Economy gathered at the former Vienna Stock Exchange to discuss and identify the future issues that would be critical for achieving goals in alignment with the city’s other strategies.
Delivering his welcome speech, Norbert Kettner, CEO of the Vienna Tourist Board, emphasized that quality and sustainability are the foundation of – and open up fresh perspectives for – continuous development. In his keynote, the futurologist Andreas Reiter addressed the central question of what good city life looks like to all stakeholder groups, and went on to provide possible answers through a number of international examples. Afterwards, there was lively discussion at eight tables set up in a “World Café” on various overarching themes ranging from the city as a hub for international encounters to local satisfaction with tourism among residents, as well as connectivity and digital networking Here, too, a clear message shone through: strengthen sustainability, reduce bureaucracy, make successes visible, and create a balance between visitors’ and residents’ interests. These emerged as the key priorities.
A compass for destination development
Held as a follow-up event in October 2024, an online format introduced a new compass for sustainable destination development. To achieve a desired state in future, data needs to be measured and the development of key performance indicators monitored. To this end, Vienna is setting up a Sustainable Tourism Observatory in line with the UN guidelines for tourism: smart data and collaboration between all stakeholders as part of a Destination Stewardship approach will help to keep the process on track. Ultimately, the outcome is a sustainable offering that attracts the right visitors.
A lot of work behind the scenes
But a lot of other things have been going on behind the scenes to help place Vienna’s tourism on a strong foundation for the future. A study by MMGY/TCI Research conducted between January and December 2023 analyzed over 12 million reviews to identify the destination’s strengths and weaknesses; background and exploratory discussions with more than 50 experts from business, academia, politics, public administration, sustainability, international organizations, advocacy groups, and tourist boards were all involved. Other activities included a sector survey, gathering online feedback on the 2025 Strategy, a meeting with the Chair of the International Advisory Board for the Strategy Greg Clark, developing future perspectives with the Vienna Tourist Board’s trend scout group and futurist Andreas Reiter (ZTB Zukunft), as well as key cooperation talks with the Technical University of Vienna, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, MODUL University Vienna, and the FH Wien der WKW university of applied sciences for management and communication.
New Action Programs
The next step centers on short-term Action Programs involving participants in the Visitor Economy who are looking to take the initiative through innovation. Vienna has proven how dynamic growth in tourism can be not only compatible with sustainability, but actually lay the foundation for a livable and sustainable city through a combination of foresight and smart planning. And now, the city will continue to forge ahead through its Visitor Economy Strategy, and to take on the mantle of a role model in the surrounding international discourse. Sustainability, conscious use of resources, and social inclusion are principles that Vienna lives by. For many years, the Austrian capital has shown that – far from standing in opposition to quality of life – tourism development can contribute to it.
