TravTalk India Online Magazine
Fausto Zaina, Head of Market Management, Swiss Travel System, was in India recently to meet important travel partners. He revealed that not only does India rank number two for them in terms of turnover, but it is also the number one market for its Swiss Travel System Excellence training programme.
Hazel Jain
Switzerland popularity among India travellers goes back decades and the destination is only gaining popularity. Only now, Indians are evolving into better travellers. This reflects in the rising popularity of the Swiss Travel Pass. Fausto Zaina, Head of Markets, Swiss Travel System, was in India recently meeting key trade partners in Mumbai and New Delhi. He shared some interesting insights with TravTalk. He said, “We have seen a continuous rise in bookings on Swiss Travel System from the India market. We recorded an increase of more than 10 per cent in terms of turnover from January to August 2023 as compared to the same period in 2019. We are already above 2019 levels which is amazing! The overall turnover out of the Indian market before the pandemic – this is overall for Swiss Travel System products and our core product the Swiss Travel Pass – was 19 million Swiss Francs. We expect this to end up 21 million – going above 20 million for the first time.”
He added that India is now the number two market worldwide in terms of Swiss Travel System turnover, and only behind the USA. “US is the strongest market for us right now and there is a pretty big gap between USA and India. But this can change dramatically from one year to the other. So, I expect the gap to close up in the coming years,” Zaina said.
India an important market
India has always been an important market for Swiss Travel System. “We have invested a lot in the past in India. The base of this popularity in the India market comes from strong continuing work before the pandemic from our side. We have relied on the travel trade for many years, and we invest in the local travel trade and local promotion in India since many years. This is paying off well for us now. Even during the pandemic, we never left the India market and were always in touch with our trade partners here. And we were right there after the pandemic in 2021 with training and marketing,” Zaina said.
Expanding travel segments
The Swiss travel Pass historically targets more FITs. However, Zaina added, “But nowadays we see smaller groups of about 20-40-odd pax that could also travel with the Swiss Travel Pass by train. They are looking for a more sustainable travel option and want a different way of travelling – the Swiss way of travel – where they can interact with the local people. This will be travelling by train bus and boat in Switzerland. So, we will now push to smaller groups to travel by train because we have luggage transport solutions in term of same day, door-to-door service. So, groups don’t need to carry their luggage around if they don’t have a coach waiting for them.”
Zaina is also excited about the Swiss Travel System Excellence Program – an award-winning programme and the only e-learning programme in the world that covers the entire public transport system of a single country. He said, “It is very popular in India; the number one market by agent registration and completing the training programme is actually India! We relied on India travel trade in the past and we continue to rely for your support.”
