Swiss Travel System launches a new product to get the best possible “views” in Switzerland – the Swiss Peak Pass where just buy paying a small supplement to the regular 4 and 8 day Swiss Pass, you can now visit 8 Swiss Peaks free of cost.
MUMBAi – Switzerland is the country of “Views”. The country offers views of some of the most magnificent landscapes and scenic beauty wherever you visit. Keeping this in purview, Switzerland Tourism has announced year 2014 as the year of the “Views”.
Lucerne – one of Switzerland’s most easily recognized city due to its situation on scenic Lake Lucerne and the Chapel bridge, offers some of the best “views” of the city, of the mountains and of the lake. Mount Pilatus – the home mountain of Lucerne can be visited in the summer as a golden round trip. The first part of the journey is by boat, then by the world’s steepest cogwheel railway and return by cable car – thus offering the most magnificent “views” of the entire region. Zermatt – the car free resort is known for the best “views” of the Matterhorn – Switzerland’s most famous mountain. Experience the extremely exciting train ride at Gornergrat – the highest cog railway in Europe. The Kulmhotel the highest hotel in the Swiss Alps and the Gornergrat peak offers a fantastic “view” to the Matterhorn and 28 other snow- and ice-covered mountain peaks. An even closer “view” of the Matterhorn is from the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise excursion which not only offers the highest viewing platform but has also started serving Indian food at it’s restaurant. Ticino is the setting for the opening scene of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye starring Pierce Brosnan, the Verzasca dam is 220 m high and offers the third highest bungee jump in the world.
Swiss Travel System launches a new product to get the best possible “views” in Switzerland – the Swiss Peak Pass where just buy paying a small supplement to the regular 4 and 8 day Swiss Pass, you can now visit 8 Swiss Peaks free of cost.
Mr Stephan Heuberger, Director, Switzerland Tourism India, said, “Switzerland offers great ‘views’ and images that one can conjure in their hearts and minds. A tourist can enjoy the ‘views’ wherever he/she is– right from the airplane when you land, from the train windows when you traverse the country, from the summits when you go up a mountain, from the cable cars which you take to go up, from the boats that cross the many lakes, when you go shopping in the pretty cities and towns…the list is endless. Everywhere you turn you see a new “View” that you want to capture and savour forever.”
Mr Stephan Heuberger, Director, Switzerland Tourism India.
As a part of ‘Views’, Switzerland Tourism shall be planning various activities including varied marketing activities for 2014 ranging from consumer reach out programmes, e-marketing, advertising campaigns including TVCs on leading channels and print ads to training programs for travel agents.
Switzerland Tourism has seen a significant growth in the number of Indian tourists visiting. With the theme ‘Views’ Switzerland Tourism is looking forward to a great 2014 with 10% growth targeted due to steady demand. The number of overnights in hotel rooms 2013 were on par with the previous year though the number of arrivals showed a growth.
Ms Ritu Sharma, Deputy Director, Switzerland Tourism India, speaking about new trends, said, “We have seen growth in the number of Indians staying in apartments. As more and more Indians travel to Switzerland for a longer period and also with friends and family, they prefer to use apartments due to convenience and practicality. From our experience, we have noticed that election years usually have a boom in travel after the elections get over – we are expecting a huge surge in numbers from the third week of May.”
Ms Ritu Sharma, Deputy Director, Switzerland Tourism India.
Switzerland Tourism is attracting two distinct types of growing targets – one segment is those types of families who travel with children and grandparents, sometimes with extended families and friends and this group looks for the classical Swiss experiences such as mountain excursions, scenic trains and sightseeing. The second group is youth who now have increased spending power to now travel on their own and are looking for new experiences, which include active holidays, trying new cuisines, new destinations and new adventures. This group usually looks for accommodation in youth hostels and homestays not only for economy but also for experiencing life in the country.
Switzerland Tourism will continue to focus on MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) and its specialised MICE division – SCIB (Switzerland Convention and Incentive Bureau) has now started a 100% position in India to look after this growing segment.
Switzerland Tourism started their Indian feed on Facebook this year and already has more than 210,000 fans making India the largest community on the page. 2014 is going to see a twitter feed and launch of Instagram and Pinterest.
Photo caption: Swiss Delegates during the press conference.
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