6 Proactive Responses to Negative Reviews
2018 was a strong year for tourism in Vienna. International arrivals totaled around 7.5 million, hotel revenues rose 12 percent in 11 months, and 94 percent of Viennese reported a positive attitude toward visitors. But in this season, the Vienna Tourist Board tackled a new difficulty: negative reviews. While many firms are split on whether to confront or ignore public complaints, Vienna chose a lighthearted tactic, turning so-called “flaws” into strengths by highlighting them in gorgeous photo-based advertising campaigns. In a series of ads mounted in the London underground and in digital bus stops, the Vienna Tourist Board portrayed five fun and beautiful Viennese moments overlaid with mean comments and poor ratings. In one ad , a romantic picture of a couple cuddled in a boat on the serene Danube was captioned “Boooring!” and given zero stars. To highlight how polarizing comments can drag an experience down, the “See Vienna, not #Vienna” ads...