Unrating Vienna Embraces Negative Reviews

What’s the first thing you do when planning a holiday? Read up multiple reviews of every hotel, museum and monument. That is exactly what the Vienna Tourist Board doesn’t want you to do. In a recent advertisement campaign, Unrating Vienna, the board is drawing attention to appalling but humorous reviews in an effort to convince prospective tourists to visit and judge the city for themselves.

The campaign has picked up a few real reviews left online by visitors to show their nonsensical nature. One such is a single-star rating for the Leopold Art Museum, which claims that “paintings are disgusting.” Given the fact that the museum houses significant works of globally recognized Austrian artists such as Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, the bitter judgement seems almost comical. Many such negative reviews have been juxtaposed against beautiful pictures of some of the city’s popular destinations, like the Schönbrunn Palace, Prater Park, and Heuriger Schübel-Auer bar. Perhaps the most striking images are of a boat ride with a one-star review which declares it to be “boooring” and a stunning shot of a swing ride at Prater that says, “the view is rubbish.”

Online reviews have become a crucial aspect of travelling in recent times. But not all reviews are trustworthy and sometimes cause more harm than help. Frustrated with the fake and misleading reactions on the web, the tourist board invites visitors to tour the city and form their own opinions. It also hopes that tourists will move beyond the list of ‘must-see’ places and explore offbeat locations.  

Unrating Vienna is running alongside Vienna’s other tourism campaign, Unhashtag Vienna, which is pushing for a social media free travel experience. The focus of travel for many has shifted to stressing over getting an Instagram worthy shot. A digital detox getaway can be highly rewarding and make you feel akin to a true explorer.

 It’s time for you to decide what you like.