desti.nation / Hamburg / Phuket - Thailand
Advertising · Destination Positioning · Brand Communication
Desti.Nation/26 — how to grow destinations healthy & sustainable
Founder
Florian Matthies
MADVERTISING
I. The Shift
Desti.Nation/26: Communication strategy, applied to destinations.
Tourism is a growing challenge for many regions and cities. Attracting more visitors is no longer enough — the key is attracting the right visitors while maintaining a healthy balance between tourism, local communities, and infrastructure.
We help destinations develop sustainable tourism strategies that align the interests of residents, businesses, and visitors. Through strategic positioning, targeted communications, and smart visitor management, we help steer demand, distribute visitor flows, and attract the audiences that best fit your destination's goals.
Our approach combines world-class brand thinking with practical tourism expertise — enabling cities and regions to increase their appeal, strengthen their identity, and create long-term value for both visitors and locals.
01
Communication is key
Architecting how a city or region is understood — translating place, audience and ambition into a defensible strategic identity.
02
Overtourism Strategy
Narrative-led frameworks for redistributing demand, protecting place and sustaining the value of the destination.
03
Visitor Narrative Systems
Reading and reshaping how visitors perceive, interpret and remember a destination across the full arc of their visit.
04
Flow & Perception
Communication design that decongests over-saturated hotspots and routes attention toward under-leveraged assets.
05
Guests need guidance
Designing how cities and regions are encountered — narrative, pacing and the signature moments that define them.
06
Positioning Interventions
Translating strategy into real-world communication concepts that shift how a destination is seen, framed and remembered.
Why It Matters
Each initiative answered a real positioning question — who is the city not reaching, where is its narrative too narrow, what is desti.nation not yet allowed to be?
Communication and positioning interventions, conceived in Vienna and applied to its destination context — the same discipline now informing advisory work for destinations and brands abroad.
Sequence
Question → Narrative → Perception
II. Career Timeline
International award-winning Creative Director, entrepreneur and tourism innovator.
International award-winning Creative Director, entrepreneur and tourism innovator with more than 120 advertising awards and distinctions across Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, The One Show, ADC, Effie and other leading global festivals.
Founder of multiple agencies and tourism ventures including HOME Digital, Madvertising, HOT ROD CITY TOUR Vienna and La Dolce Vienna. Creator of one of Vienna's most distinctive visitor attractions, recognized with multiple Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards and consistently ranked among the city's highest-rated tourism experiences.
Today, Florian Matthies combines expertise in branding, destination development, visitor experience design, entrepreneurship and tourism strategy to help destinations, attractions and businesses create stronger brands and more memorable experiences.
01
Mercedes-Benz
Strategic and creative work inside leading international agency environments — premium brand at scale.
02
Audi
Campaign and brand work across European markets — the discipline of advertising a category leader.
03
Allianz
Communication strategy for one of Europe's largest financial brands — clarity under regulatory weight.
04
Award-Recognised Practice
More than fifteen years of strategic and creative work across leading agencies, including award-winning campaigns.
05
Brand Communication
Positioning, narrative and the disciplined identity around them — the craft that carries into every later project.
06
The Extension
After fifteen years advising global brands, the same communication discipline applied to destinations, narrative and perception work — under Madvertising, desti.nation.
Record
- 1990s
Hamburg Advertising Industry
Started career in advertising and communications, building the foundation in copywriting, strategy and brand development.
- Early 2000s
Vienna Advertising Market
Relocated to Vienna and rapidly advanced through the creative industry to become one of Austria's youngest Creative Directors.
- 2000–2016
International Creative Recognition
Received more than 120 awards, distinctions and shortlist placements at leading global advertising festivals including Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, The One Show, ADC, Effie, Eurobest, Golden Drum and New York Festivals.
- 2008
Founder, HOME Digital
Founded HOME Digital, one of Austria's early full-service digital agencies, combining strategy, creativity, technology and digital communications under one roof.
- 2013
Founder, Madvertising
Established Madvertising, focusing on unconventional marketing concepts, branded experiences and innovative communication formats.
- 2015
Founder & CEO, HOT ROD CITY TOUR Vienna
Introduced and built one of Vienna's most distinctive tourism and sightseeing concepts, transforming a niche entertainment idea into an internationally recognized visitor attraction.
- 2018–2021
Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards
HOT ROD CITY TOUR Vienna received multiple consecutive Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards, placing the experience among the highest-rated tourism attractions and activities in Vienna.
- 2015–Present
International Tourism Recognition
Developed HOT ROD CITY TOUR Vienna into one of Vienna's most recognized tourism experiences, achieving consistently outstanding guest ratings and strong visibility across Tripadvisor, Viator and GetYourGuide.
- 2015–Present
Tourism & Destination Development
Expanded expertise from brand building into tourism strategy, visitor experience design, destination marketing and attraction development.
- 2019
Founder, La Dolce Vienna
Developed a new hospitality and lifestyle concept combining tourism, local culture and premium visitor experiences in Vienna.
- 2020s
Entrepreneur, Tourism Innovator & Strategic Consultant
Advises businesses, destinations and tourism stakeholders on branding, visitor experience, communications, attraction development and sustainable tourism growth.
- Today
Cross-Industry Expertise
Combines international advertising experience, digital entrepreneurship and tourism development into a unique strategic perspective spanning brands, destinations and visitor economies.
Sequence
Brand → Communication → Destination
Festivals & Distinctions
More than 120 awards, distinctions and shortlist placements across the world's leading creative festivals.
III. Initiatives
Successful & innovative tour companies founded by Florian Matthies in Vienna
01
Audience Perception
Hot Rod Tour Vienna
02
Overtourism
La Dolce Vienna
A destination positioning initiative re-framing visitor narrative from the saturated inner city toward the surrounding wine regions.
03
Narrative Layer
Vienna Vice
An alternative reading of the city — expanding how Vienna can be perceived culturally and emotionally.
IV. Approach
What is Desti.Nation/26
Desti.Nation/26™
Desti.Nation/26™ is a strategic tourism development program designed for destinations that want to attract the right visitors, not simply more visitors.
Many regions face challenges such as overtourism, seasonal overcrowding, infrastructure pressure, and visitor segments that do not align with the destination's long-term goals. Desti.Nation/26™ helps tourism boards, cities, and regions address these issues through clear destination positioning, audience targeting, and sustainable tourism strategies.
We analyze your destination, define your ideal visitor profiles, and develop a comprehensive strategy to position your destination effectively in key source markets. Using social media, communications, branding, public relations, and targeted marketing, we help attract visitors who create long-term value for the local economy and community.
The result is a tailored tourism roadmap that improves visitor quality, strengthens destination identity, reduces tourism-related pressures, and supports sustainable growth for residents, businesses, and visitors alike.
Attract the right visitors. Strengthen your destination. Build sustainable tourism for the future.
- Positioning first
- Every initiative begins with a real positioning question — an audience missed, a narrative too narrow, an image too fixed.
- Communication as system
- Brand and destination are shaped by the discipline of how they speak — tone, narrative and image, held over time.
- Craft from advertising
- Fifteen years on Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Allianz set the discipline — clarity, restraint and the long arc of a brand.
- Senior counsel
- Strategy held by one person, founder to founder — not a deck handed down through a hierarchy.
V. Inquiry
For contact, advisory or a free consultation call:
Selective engagements with founders, destinations and operating teams. Written inquiries preferred — short notes welcome.