The new Therme Wien
Strategic communication for the transformation of the traditional “Kurbad Oberlaa” into Europe’s largest urban spa, the new “Therme Wien”.
After more than four decades of operation, the “Kurbad Oberlaa,” which was very popular with the Viennese, was demolished in 2010 and replaced by a new, modern spa complex. This newcomer, “Europe’s largest city baths,” was intended to attract new groups of guests from outside Vienna – but without scaring away the many thousands of local regulars – and thus provide a tourist boost that would benefit the city of Vienna as a whole.
The project was fraught with conflict: a two-year major construction site with simultaneous continuation of spa operations in the old complex, the substitution of decades-old popular leisure attractions with new, “unknown” offerings – and last but not least, unavoidable price adjustments due to the expanded scope of services and the modernization offensive.
Long-term positioning
Skills was commissioned by Therme Wien to develop a long-term strategic communications plan that encompassed the entire change process, from communicating the progress of construction to the professional international positioning of the new Therme Wien as an urban tourist attraction.