Wolfgang J. Kraus: Vienna, my love
Wolfgang J. Kraus retired at the end of 2008 but still answers e-mails with the promptness and accuracy of a real professional. And indeed, he is a professional. A professional who didn’t hesitate to share his experience and chair the Communication & PR Working Group in the former ECT and later on he continued this activity within ECM. The creator of the very first ECM brochure today shares with us some of the turning points of his professional life.
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Having started as editorial assistant at City Hall at the age of 21, Wolfgang never thought he would devote his whole working life to the city of his birth. But it soon turned out that the Vienna Tourist Board would need change, and in 1973 he was invited to revitalise their public relations. In 1982 Wolfgang was made Deputy Managing Director and co-designed and led campaigns like “There’s more to Vienna”, “Welcome to the Vienna Scene” and “Vienna waits for you,” which, from 1996 onwards, also featured on www.vienna.info.
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Besides this, he led the strategy team and developed the “Vienna 2010” concept: in 2003, they envisaged ten million overnights for 2010. By 2008, they had already reached this goal – and started to design the “Vienna 2015” concept while advising our guests to “Love Life & Live Creativity” in 2009.
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“All the time since 1991, it has been reassuring to talk to and benchmark with colleagues from other cities at European Cities’ Marketing. All the time since 1973, I have found there’s no better product or destination to promote than Vienna, at the heart of Central Europe.”
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The best moment of my professional career:
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When, at the official goodbye-reception in December, Ms. Renate Brauner, Vice-Mayoress of Vienna and President of the VTB, took more than ten minutes to tell the guests what I have done for the city.
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Why I will never forget the ECM/EFCT/ECT meeting in…
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…Göteborg in 2003: Because of the outstanding mixture of serious talks at the conference, professional interest in Liseberg Amusement Park, the beautiful Swedish blondes at the midsummernight’s celebration at Nääs palace, and Claes Bjerkne as a most cordial host.
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ECM has brought me…
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… much fruitful contact with colleagues like Jana Wöhlert of Berlin, Hans Dominicus of Amsterdam, Pirkko Nyman of Helsinki, Evelin Tsirk of Tallinn and Frank Bumann of Zurich. And many, many others. Contacts who have proved most valuable in daily work, not only at the next ECM meetings! ECM has also brought me to the conclusion that, as we would say in Austria, “the others too, they cook with water only.”
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You cannot survive working in tourism if/without….
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…without being acknowledged as a professional by one’s stakeholders in the tourism industry. And without the chance to underscore one’s professionalism by quoting tourism managers from relevant competing destinations.
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Finally, I will have the time to…
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… be a better husband and father and a more frequent city traveller than ever before.
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