Heartbeat Streets. Fall in Love with Vienna’s Neighborhoods

In 2024, Vienna will celebrate its local neighborhoods, or Gr?tzel as the locals here call them. They are places where people gather to meet, to interact and to be creative. Diverse, multicultural and authentic, the up-coming publicity campaign will shine a spotlight on the neighborhoods that lie off the beaten path for most tourists – “Heartbeat Streets. Fall in Love with Vienna’s Neighborhoods”.

In Berlin the word is Kiez, New York has its neighborhoods, Madrid its barrios – while Vienna’s districts are referred to as “Gr?tzel”. Originally derived from the obsolete word “gereiz”, which meant “perimeter”, it describes a small, inner-city unit consisting of several streets. Most of the Gr?tzel emerged from the former settlements outside what was then the city center and is now the first district. The centers of these Gr?tzel are mostly defined by markets or main squares, as well as by the streets leading to them. What makes Vienna’s Gr?tzel unique is that they often have no official boundaries, no beginning and no end.

Even if there are some common features, each district has a unique combination of architecture, urban feeling, culinary and shopping offerings and, above all, people. Each Gr?tzel has its own attractions, its particular crowd, its unique character and charm. It is precisely these elements that are responsible for making the world-renowned Viennese attitude to life so tangible in each neighborhood. Each plays a role of its own for both residents and visitors in cosmopolitan Vienna.

Temporary neighbors: dive into local communities

What makes a Gr?tzel unique is a sense of togetherness. This is not reserved just for residents. In Vienna’s Gr?tzel, you are a temporary neighbor and not just a visitor. Here you can feel like a true Viennese and discover the authentic Vienna. Vienna’s Gr?tzel are places to meet, where the city shows itself to be a modern, diverse and liberal-minded metropolis.

Guests are still very much welcomed in Vienna – the acceptance of tourism among the residents of Vienna has remained consistently high for many years. Since 2017, the Vienna Tourist Board has been surveying more than 3,600 Viennese residents on their attitudes towards tourism. The results show that nine in ten Viennese residents see tourism in the city in a positive light. (In 2022, a representative study was conducted by the independent market research company Manova on behalf of the Vienna Tourist Board)

Jewish culture, modern architecture and Viennese originals

In 2024, the spotlight will shine on eleven unique Gr?tzel that could not be more different from each other: From trendsters and traders in the area around Yppenplatz and the french flair in the Servitenviertel to the districts of the future and urban development areas Seestadt, Sonnwendviertel and Nordbahnviertel. Visit b2b.vienna.info/heartbeat for more information!

International B2B event series on the annual theme 2024

With exclusive B2B events, the Vienna Tourist Board got the international travel industry in the mood for its annual theme 2024. The series of events took place in Zurich, London, Paris, Rome, San Diego and San Francisco.