Seven Vienna Stories Every Day

International media coverage of Vienna as a destination for tourism remained consistently high in 2024. Around 2,500 clippings were published worldwide – corresponding to an average of about seven media reports per day. The total impressions across all publications amounted to around 4.3 billion. Particularly in demand, the topic of culinary arts featured in about every second report (1,300 clippings). Heartbeat Streets – the theme chosen for 2024 – also contributed significantly to the capital’s PR success with around 800 clippings and a reach of 1.1 billion impressions. The markets with the highest reach were the United States with 1.5 billion impressions, followed by the United Kingdom (658 million), Germany (560 million), France (516 million), and Spain (360 million). An important contribution to global media presence was the individual support of around 700 media representatives in Vienna – an increase of 10 percent compared to the previous year. New PR agencies were brought on board in South Korea and Italy to professionalize international media work in these markets in the longer term.

Vienna Film Incentive Brings International Film Productions to Vienna

According to the Travelsat Index compiled by global online market research company TCI-Research, around 100 million international travelers chose their destination primarily due to films between 2017 and 2019 – a finding that also highlighted another of the competitive advantages that Vienna has over its European peers. As a result, the analysts conclude that 1 in 10 visitors chooses Vienna primarily due to its appearance in a film. Based on these market research insights, the City of Vienna and the Vienna Tourist Board launched the Vienna Film Incentive – a EUR 2 million international film funding program.

2024 brought two more Vienna Film Incentive-supported productions: British star director Guy Ritchie filmed at various location in the city including the National Library, Heldenplatz, Schwarzenbergplatz, Hotel Imperial and even Vienna’s sewer system with Oscar winner Natalie Portman as well as US actors John Krasinski and Eiza González. Meanwhile, German cinema production Very Best Ager (working title) starring Heiner Lauterbach and Iris Berben filmed scenes on location at the Albertina, Café Alt Wien, and by the Danube Canal.