TravTalk India Online Magazine
Switzerland Tourism is promoting the Swiss Travel System as a convenient and sustainable way to explore the country, which can be accessed with one ticket. The Swiss Travel Pass enables visitors to explore Switzerland seamlessly by train, bus or boat, says Misha Gambetta, Director India, Switzerland Tourism.
Hazel Jain
What are your focus areas for 2023 for the India market?
Switzerland Tourism is constantly communicating different aspects of what the country offers through various campaigns detailing our outdoor experiences, as well as sustainable travel experiences. The ‘100% Women’ campaign that we started back in 2021 encourages women to experience outdoor offerings of Switzerland such as hiking, mountaineering and biking, either solo or in groups. Switzerland has more than 12,000 km of standardised, sign-posted cycling routes. The many attractive paths along riverbanks and lake shores, with only minor uphill sections, are a highlight. With easy rentals and inter-connected railways, one can always mix and match a bike experience with public transport to cover this beautiful country. Through these initiatives, we aim to strengthen the position of Switzerland as a diverse holiday destination for women.Our popular campaign with our Friendship Ambassador Neeraj Chopra — Indian sports icon and Olympic gold medallist — to promote our spectacular outdoors and numerous adventure activities will continue through this year to show more activities one can do across seasons. We are also heavily promoting the Swiss Travel System as a convenient and sustainable way to explore the country, which can be accessed with one ticket – the Swiss Travel Pass.
What are you currently promoting in the India market?
Indian travellers have always been great lovers of train travel in Switzerland, so we are currently promoting The Grand Train Tour of Switzerland. This tour is the ultimate train journey for all rail buffs, as it merges all our panoramic lines into one breathtaking route. The Grand Train Tour of Switzerland, that can be done all year-round, covers 1,280 km, taking passengers through the most charming Swiss cities to alpine hotspots, through UNESCO World Heritage Sites and past world-famous landmarks. To enjoy this tour, travellers need only one single ticket: the Swiss Travel Pass – an all-in-one ticket valid across all modes of public transportation in Switzerland. The pass is popular among Indian tourists, who are its top two or three buyers worldwide. So, promoting a train tour with the Swiss Travel Pass is key to our marketing strategy in India currently.
Do you observe any changes in travel behaviour post COVID?
We are seeing a huge shift in the way people travel, especially Indians. We have a growing young target audience for whom the type of vacation they seek is also evolving. They look at being active and engaged on a holiday across seasons. Destinations and attractions that go beyond the usual clichés are much sought-after. They want experiences that are long-lasting, and which allow them to connect deeply with local culture, food, history and the people. Indian guests spend 340 CHF (Swiss Franc) on an average — per person, per day and their stay can vary anywhere between seven to eight days. The pandemic also made some changes in travel patterns – people now also want to travel out of season. For these target groups who want to discover lesser-known aspects of Switzerland, such as other seasons, autumn and winter for example, are spoiled for choice on destinations and activities to do outdoors, in contact with nature, in cities, during these months of the year: winter sports, the gastronomic events typical of the autumn season, where at the level of local products, Switzerland is even more generous and varied, the cities in the Christmas season with its many Christmas markets.
Thomas Cook India’s take on business
Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head, Holidays, M!CE, Visa – Thomas Cook (India)
“We are seeing very high demand for Switzerland this season from key markets like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi NCR, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Gujarat. Our data indicate that Indians are staying longer and spending more in Switzerland versus pre-pandemic, and also doing in-depth explorations. Indian travellers are engaging in immersive mountain experiences in Switzerland like visiting Mt. Titlis on the world’s first rotating cable car, a ride to visit Jungfraujoch and visiting the Ice Palace and the Sphinx observatory deck to view the longest glacier in the Alps, experiencing the Alpine coaster at Glacier 3000 – the highest situated toboggan run in the world, the stunning lakeside towns and Olympic Museum of Lausanne and Montreux on Lake Geneva, along with some shopping destinations.
