Is Vienna Dull?

The Vienna Tourist Board invited the entire Scottish village of Dull to visit Vienna and use their expert knowledge to judge whether the city is dull in January or not.

“Is Vienna Dull?”, a concept born from a collaborative creative workshop between the Vienna Tourist Board and Jung von Matt DONAU, combines humour, timing, and cultural storytelling to invite visitors to rethink the traditionally quiet month of January.

The campaign spotlights the Austrian capital as a vibrant, surprising city. After all, January is when the Viennese ball season reaches its peak, with the city hosting more than 450 balls every year.

Using a charming, self-ironic narrative, the PR stunt turns the real Scottish village of Dull into the ultimate authority tasked with judging Vienna.

Invitations to take on this important role were handed over to the residents of Dull in November 2025, setting the stage for what has unfolded in the new year.

Each visitor received a tailor-made itinerary based on their interests, which came to life over the weekend of the 23rd of January through a full programme of curated cultural experiences in Vienna.

While one group began with an exclusive, before-hours guided tour of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, exploring masterpieces by Titian, Raphael, Bruegel, Rubens, Vermeer and Rembrandt, the other one visited the Spanish Riding School for a morning training session and behind-the-scenes access to the historic riding halls and Lipizzaner stables.

The afternoon offered a range of cultural experiences, including a traditional Viennese waltz lesson, preparing the residents for the city’s renowned ball culture, as well as ice skating at the Vienna Ice World, where they enjoyed the expansive outdoor rink and special atmosphere in the heart of the city. In the evening, some guests attended a classical concert at the Karlskirche, experiencing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons performed on baroque instruments, before the program culminated at Vienna’s City Hall, which had been transformed for one of Vienna’s 450 balls, the Vienna Ball of Sciences. The guests from Dull who attended the ball, complete with formal attire and prior dance preparation, joined Vienna’s science and research community for a truly memorable evening.

The guests from Dull also enjoyed a stay at Hotel Imperial, one of Vienna’s most iconic hotels which has previously hosted Queen Elizabeth II and The Rolling Stones.

Having put the city's January vibrance to the ultimate test, the visitors from Dull delivered their expert assessment of the Austrian capital. Their final verdict was unanimous and definitive: Vienna is definitely not dull.

Michael Nagy, Managing Partner and ECD at Jung von Matt Donau, says: “January is rarely considered to be an exciting time of the year – but Vienna is different. Instead of trying to prove people wrong, we put the verdict in someone else's hands and invited the residents of Dull to see for themselves. If a city can win you over in January, it has nothing left to prove in the summer.”

Norbert Kettner, CEO of the Vienna Tourist Board, says:
“Vienna never hibernates, not even in January. The residents of Dull experienced this first-hand through exclusive museum visits, the Spanish Riding School, ice skating in front of the City Hall and even an evening at the Vienna Ball of Sciences, proving that winter is one of the city’s richest cultural seasons. Now we’re inviting travellers everywhere to follow in their footsteps and experience the same winter magic for themselves.”

As a two-phase PR initiative, the “Vienna is Not Dull” campaign has already generated significant positive coverage for Vienna. The initial surprise element, paired with the personal delivery of invitations, reached millions of readers with prominent placements in top-tier outlets such as BBC News, The Independent, Daily Mail, and Sunday Express.

The UK was an ideal market for this initiative due to its strong traditional media presence and, as one of Vienna’s top five source markets, it offers excellent flight connections and a culture-oriented audience - precisely the target group aligned with the Vienna Tourist Board’s strategic goal: that two out of three future visitors should be cultural tourists.