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In Vienna, history vibrates through violin strings. Long considered the world’s musical capital, Vienna echoes with the works of Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart. Its music is a cultural legacy that remains as vibrant today as in the 1700s.
Keeping that spirit alive today, Stefan Treske, co-founder and CEO of Orchestra 1756, offers an unmissable experience by staging Baroque musical concerts performed on period instruments in a Baroque building. A top attraction in the Austrian capital, they currently welcome more than 100,000 guests a year and continue to grow at over 10% year-on-year.
“Our vision is to make Vienna's classical music heritage accessible to an international audience. So we try to deliver high-quality performances which are very authentic,” says Stefan.
We sat down with Stefan to discuss working with OTAs like GetYourGuide to grow your business without compromising on artistry.
How does your team collaborate with OTAs like GetYourGuide?
We are a small team. It's not that we have several departments, so everyone is involved in the marketing and ticketing operations. We try to ensure our visibility on the platform is very good. OTAs are a strong channel for us, and GetYourGuide is the strongest one.
Half of the bookings come through OTAs. An important thing is that our sales through OTAs grew a lot, but so did our own sales. It's not that OTAs are taking away from our sales; it's added, and that's a very nice thing!
What were your expectations from the partnership with GetYourGuide at the beginning, and were there any surprises along the way?
To be honest, in 2010, when we started to partner with GetYourGuide. We didn't think a lot about it because we didn't know where the journey could go, and we could not imagine what it would be like today. GetYourGuide is one of the leading platforms for travel experiences and connects us with a global audience.
The big surprise is that GetYourGuide made it possible to get an audience from several parts of the world, even though it’s based in Germany.
Did you have any initial hesitations about partnering with GetYourGuide?
The only thing was about ticketing. We have a database, so how can we make the ticketing smooth? At the beginning, we did it by hand. We typed all the guests' names into our database. That’s changed a lot! We needed to do our homework and advance our digitization. So it was a journey for us too.
Growth through OTAs has been gradual. 2019 was a strong year, but then there was Corona. Afterward, when everyone started traveling again, we grew a lot more. People really wanted to come back to travel experiences. We did fine before 2020, but I think 2022 and 2023 were when we thought, “Oh my!” We didn't think that we would come to this point.
What would you say is the biggest challenge facing your industry today?
There is a lot of competition here in Vienna, which is the city of music. Our biggest challenge is delivering a high-quality experience while paying our musicians and employees fairly.
We don't hold concerts with just a quartet; we perform with 12 musicians. As a company, we need to make money, but we also want a strong relationship with our team so we can continue building together.
After a decade on this journey, that challenge remains: paying fairly and delivering quality with a heart.
Have GetYourGuide’s data insights helped you to optimize your offering in any way?
We used to have standing tickets, and people hated it. The thing was, we always upgraded them to seated tickets, but we wanted to give people the opportunity to get a very cheap ticket to see the concert.
The reviews we received on GetYourGuide were worse than just selling seated tickets, because people were annoyed that they weren’t standing! It was very weird for us, but we learned a lot. We stopped selling standing tickets in the end.
How has digitizing your sales channels changed your business?
It’s brought us a global audience. Travelers can discover and book their cultural experience in advance, so we can reach guests before they even arrive in Vienna. So that, of course, has been big for us.
In terms of ticketing, I remember we had paper tickets to give to the guest, an envelope with the guest's name on it, and a lot of envelopes on our desk! In the evening, when the guests arrived, we handed them the tickets, and it was really a hassle to prepare. Now we have an API and our own digital booking system, which has really helped us streamline our operations.
Is there any advice that you would share with other organizations looking to grow through OTA partnerships?
Focus on presenting your experience clearly and what makes you unique. Highlight your USP. The words are very important.
Also, take cues from your OTAs. With GetYourGuide data, we’ve had the opportunity to see how the business is going and how we can make our experience better.
GetYourGuide revealed that we needed more pictures and helped us understand the types of pictures to use. It was very helpful insight.
Key Takeaways
- Build on historical success. Orchestra 1765 currently welcomes more than 100,000 guests a year, and it continues to grow at over 10% year-on-year.
- Scale through global partnerships. Half of Orchestra 1765’s bookings come from OTAs like GetYourGuide.
- Modernize the guest experience. GetYourGuide has helped the company move from paper ticketing to digital ticketing, transforming its processes.
- Lead with your unique identity. Highlighting your USP is key for any company wishing to grow through OTA partnerships.
- Let data guide your strategy. GetYourGuide provided precise data insights to guide the company's marketing efforts.
