switzerland tourism case study

Sustainability Leaders United

Destination switzerland: sustainable tourism strategies, stories and examples.

Much loved and admired for its natural beauty, Switzerland is a destination high up on wishlists of travellers around the world, especially and increasingly also Asians. But how does the country’s popularity as a tourism destination affect its sustainability? How are its mountain destinations adapting to the consequences of climate change, such as less snow? And how are Switzerland’s hotels and other tourism businesses living up to the high expectations of environmentally conscious travellers?

To get answers to those and other questions, we caught up with Swiss tourism leaders and sustainability changemakers.

Sustainable destination Switzerland supporters:  Swiss Youth Hostels ,  Swiss Travel System ,  SWISS  and  Rhaetian Railways .

Why focus on sustainability?

The pristine natural landscape of Switzerland is often associated with its clean and green image. To retain its image as an environment-friendly destination, DMOs, and businesses in the hospitality, transportation, and culinary sector work closely with each other and incorporated sustainability as a core part of their business model to strengthen the reputation of Switzerland as a brand close to nature.

How Switzerland approaches sustainability

• In the face of errant weather due to climate change, Switzerland is diversifying its winter tourism offerings by encouraging hiking and cycling during – and beyond – the summer months.
• Valposchiavo has developed a conscious tourism model with the ‘100% Valposchiavo’ initiative where locally produced seasonal products from the alpine valley are directly sold to restaurants. With active support from the local DMO, farming community, and local restaurants, this closed value chain initiative is a boost to sustainable economic development.
• Muottas Muragl Romantik Hotel has won accolades for achieving energy efficiency in its operations by relying solely on solar energy. To encourage conscious consumption, they work closely with local suppliers to source ingredients and reduce food wastage by cooking according to the demand resulting in cost savings.
• Schweizerhof Lenzerheide in the Swiss canton of Graubünden sets an example in the hospitality industry by focusing on all three pillars of sustainability. They strongly believe in social sustainability by training their employees and creating a positive work environment which translates into a committed staff which is important in a sustainable business. Guests are provided with an authentic Swiss culinary experience by sourcing locally produced food while also ensuring a lower carbon footprint.
• Swiss Youth Hostels ’ sustainability strategy is based on the three-pillar principle: economy, social and environment. Their efforts to reduce carbon emissions have resulted in the reduction of CO2 emissions from space heating by 57.3% in 2000 and offset around 2,270 tonnes of CO2.
• SwitzerlandMobility , the national network for non-motorized traffic like hiking, cycling, mountain biking, skating and canoeing is renowned as an outstanding model for sustainable tourism mobility. Financed by the public and private sector, as well as visitors when using the SwitzerlandMobility Plus tool, SwitzerlandMobility is a shining example of a sustainable tourism offering.
• Anakolodge in the Valais region of Switzerland has accommodations built with natural construction materials that blend with the mountain landscape. The idea behind the chalets is to respect and preserve the heritage of ancestors and their knowledge of living in harmony with nature.
• Montagne Alternative in the Valais region of Switzerland is the first B Corp in the country in 2014. It is a mountain retreat where companies are provided with a unique space to discuss, learn and experience principles of the regenerative economy. The property has incorporated wood and stone in its construction, relies on solar energy for heating, and offers local produce in its restaurants.
• Entlebuch , a mountain destination near Lucerne is recognised by UNESCO as a model region for sustainable living, responsible business, and nature conservation. Their sustainability model is based on giving equal importance to the environment and social and economic interests to promote sustainable development.
• Laax is aiming to be the world’s first self-sufficient alpine destination through financially viable initiatives. Their green-style approach to sustainability focuses on reducing CO2 emissions, electricity consumption, and wastage. With climate change already affecting snow patterns, Laax is utilizing the latest 3D technology to measure the height and depth of the entire skiing and snowboarding region to help snow groomers efficiently maximize slope preparation with minimal diesel consumption.

Switzerland’s sustainable tourism changemakers

Who is leading sustainability efforts in Switzerland, making and keeping it attractive as a tourist destination? Below are our interviews with some of the country’s responsible tourism champions and changemakers.

Kaspar Howald on how Valposchiavo links sustainable tourism and agriculture through smart destination branding

As the Director of Valposchiavo Tourism,  Kaspar  has been a driving force behind the destination’s ‘100% Valposchiavo’ initiative, aimed at connecting agriculture, local trade, and tourism. In this interview, he shares how the initiative works and tells us about its successes and challenges.

Read the interview here

Anne-Pierre Ackermann on how Muottas Muragl became the first plus-energy hotel in the Alps

Perched high up in the Swiss Alps, Muottas Muragl Romantik Hotel is a real treat and popular for celebrating special occasions. Hotel manager  Anne-Pierre  explains how a combination of strict environmental standards in construction and utilising renewable solar and geothermal energy helped Muottas Muragl achieve energetic self-sufficiency and to even produce more energy than it actually needs.

Claudia Züllig on achieving sustainability, top guest ratings, and employee satisfaction

A real sustainability stalwart in Switzerland’s hospitality scene, Hotel Schweizerhof Lenzerheide – run by  Andreas  and  Claudia  – shows how sustainable hospitality can be achieved through passion and concerted efforts. Champions in offering locally sourced produce, artisanal drinks, and creating employee satisfaction, it is no surprise that Hotel Schweizerhof Lenzerheide is among the best-rated hotels in Eastern Switzerland.

Read the interview  here

Martin Nydegger on sustainability strategies of Switzerland Tourism

Switzerland’s scenic countryside and the country’s commitment to safeguarding these natural assets is a crowd puller. Find out from  Martin , the CEO of  Switzerland Tourism  about the sustainability measures implemented across the destination, such as promoting biking tours, wildlife watching, and even prolonging fall activities such as biking and hiking in December due to less snowfall owing to climate change.

Fredi Gmür on sustainability at Swiss Youth Hostels

With sustainability as a core part of its business model,  Swiss Youth Hostels  have managed to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of their properties, among myriads of other initiatives in place for sustainability. Former CEO,  Fredi  explains how this is only possible when the management board and every employee “walk the talk” in sustainability, and implement measures consistently in their daily work.

Lukas Stadtherr on promoting carbon-neutral mobility

By building a strong network of services through public and private partnerships,  SwitzerlandMobility  makes it easy for visitors to enjoy a Swiss vacation, promoting car-free traffic options like the train, hiking, cycling, mountain biking, skating, and canoeing.  Lukas  tells us how they do it.

Olivier Cheseaux on eco-friendly architecture in rural accommodation

With a motive to retain the charm and heritage of Swiss mayens,  Olivier , architect and manager of  Anakolodge  shares his experience of refurbishing wooden huts on the hilly slopes of Evolène in the French-speaking Valais region, to propagate the idea of sustainable construction, in harmony with the surroundings and using recycled material.

Benoit Greindl on resilience and sustainability in tourism

Montagne Alternative , a mountain retreat located high up in the Swiss Alps near Montreux, is the perfect accommodation for eco-conscious visitors who want to feel one with nature.  Benoit , co-founder and manager of Montagne Alternative, explains why a focus on resilience and sustainability in tourism is no longer a “nice to have”, but a necessary requirement for meeting traveller expectations.

Read the i nterview  here

Theo Schnider on establishing Switzerland’s first biosphere reserve

Recognised by UNESCO as a model region for sustainable living, responsible business, and nature protection, the approach of  Entlebuch Biosphere  to regional development and sustainability sets an example for other biosphere reserves to learn from.  Theo  has been involved from the start.

Urs Wohler on community leadership and regional sustainability

Urs , CEO of  Niesenbahn AG , illustrates why political leadership and support at a regional level are essential for destination sustainability. He also stresses how sustainability can work as an opportunity for differentiation from competitors, and how DMOs and travel businesses can work towards tourism sustainability.

Reto Fry of Flims-Laax-Falera on the Greenstyle approach to sustainability

Popular winter destination Laax is making great strides towards sustainability, including minimising diesel consumption and optimising the slope preparation process.  Reto , the Environmental Manager at  Weisse Arena Group , introduces us to the Greenstyle approach and to the destination’s ambitious plans to reduce residual waste, CO2 emissions, and electricity consumption.

Our thanks to  Swiss Youth Hostels ,  Swiss Travel System ,  SWISS  and  Rhaetian Railways  for supporting our series of interviews with Swiss sustainable tourism leaders, champions, and changemakers.

Did you enjoy our series of interview portraits with sustainable tourism champions and changemakers in Switzerland? Thanks for sharing!

Curious how destinations in other parts of the world approach sustainability? Visit our  leading sustainable destinations  section for additional stories and good practice examples!

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Switzerland Tourism

Key results.

TOTAL PAGE VIEWS

AVERAGE ATTENTION TIME

UNIUE USERS

Marketing Objectives

Switzerland Tourism was looking to reposition the country as not just a destination for skiers, but somewhere all types of travellers can enjoy all year round. The goal was to attract new visitors and increase length of stay.

It wanted a content campaign that would highlight Switzerland’s many and varied attractions to an affluent audience of keen travellers, and promote the country as a clean, safe and sustainable travel destination.

Switzerland Tourism came to FT to create this campaign and to connect with our exclusive audience of high-net- worth luxury-seekers. Its targets were challenging, but we knew we could achieve them.

Our Solution

The FT worked with an experienced freelance travel writer to create a compelling content campaign called “Discover Switzerland”, hosted on a bespoke hub on FT.com. The concept behind the campaign was that as people emerge from the difficult times of the pandemic, they need adventure, wellness and a break – and Switzerland can offer it all.

Research Our audience research showed that discerning FT readers align strongly with the Swiss Tourism Board’s target audience, having both the means and the propensity to spend on unique travel experiences. The average personal net worth of our readers is £1.4 million, 92% of our UK readers are luxury travellers, and 83% of FT readers enjoy going to new destinations.

In addition:

• The FT reaches a projected audience size of over 3.3 million £sterling millionaires across the globe each month
• 94% of FT or How To Spend It online readers have either bought a product or service, or visited a website as a result of reading an article on our site

Content Five articles showcased Switzerland’s exquisite scenery, cosmopolitan cities, luxury experiences, adventure sports and wellness breaks, while a sixth set out two spectacular itineraries in tempting detail. They were designed to bring the country to life for our readers and excite them about the varied travel possibilities.

Switzerland Tourism wanted the content to be in the FT’s tone of voice rather than its own in order to resonate with our audience. So the tone was luxurious and informative and we built on this with beautifully shot, high-production photography.

Each article had two calls to action, driving traffic to the mySwitzerland.com landing page where readers could make a travel booking.

The campaign not only hit Switzerland Tourism’s content engagement objectives, but also achieved the biggest brand uplift of all FT content campaigns in 2021.

• We generated 28.8k page views, 191% to target

• The average attention time across all content was 55 seconds, 28% over the FT benchmark

• Throughout the series we reached 22.7k users, each reading 1.27 pieces of content on average (showing good engagement)

• We delivered 5.6m impressions across social media and FT.com

• On FT.com, the CTR for all line items significantly outperformed the benchmarks, again showing strong FT audience engagement

• Of the known audience on FT.com, 26% were of the key C-suite demographic

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• Case Studies

Adapting to changing trends with BrandAcademy

A changing tourism industry

As one of the most sought after destinations to travel to for Japanese people, Switzerland has had a longstanding presence in Japan to promote tourism to the country and support local travel industry players, such as travel agencies and tour operators, to build and sell compelling offers to customers. Switzerland Tourism, the official branch of Switzerland’s tourism promotion in Japan has seen drastic changes changes resulting from an evolution of the wants and needs of the Japanese market over the last 20 years. Whereas the 90’s and early 2000’s saw a strong demand for group travel and company trips, in recent years the demand has switched dominantly to free independent travelers (FIT), in other words the desire to travel alone or as a couple or family and to have a program that is customized and often revolving around a truly local experience, rather than concentrating on the typical tourist attractions. With this in mind, Switzerland tourism had to find creative solutions in order to empower local players to answer these much more sophisticated demands from customers.

The Swiss Specialists program

To tackle this challenge, Switzerland Tourism put in place a very successful program called “Swiss Specialists” starting a few years ago. These specialists are tourism industry professionals working at different organizations who historically already had a propensity to sell Switzerland as a destination. Switzerland Tourism invited these professionals to be certified as a Swiss Specialist through an annual test to up-skill them on different facets of Switzerland. Test passers receive an official mark of trust that signify these representatives as experts of Switzerland and is easily identifiable for Japanese customers contemplating a trip to Switzerland.

Going to the next level with Swiss Academy

Building on the momentum of the Swiss Specialists program, Switzerland Tourism in Japan sought to use BrandAcademy as a way to go one step further into the training and engagement of the Switzerland specialist community in the travel industry. Essentially, the aim was to turn them into true ambassadors of the Swiss brand within their respective companies and towards clients.

Previously, the operations of the Swiss Specialists program were time consuming for a single annual touch point, the test to certify knowledge on Switzerland. Now, with the Swiss Academy, members of Switzerland Tourism have an easy channel to constantly convey new and interesting information about Switzerland, receive feedback from Swiss specialists, and empower ambassadors of Switzerland to provide unparalleled service to their customers.

Finding the right FIT with BrandAcademy for Switzerland

Keeping the focus on answering to the growing number of FIT requests, Switzerland Tourism has been using BrandAcademy to give the necessary tips and niche selling points that regular travel guides wouldn’t be able to propose:

• How to craft a trip centered around Swiss Architecture?
• Where are the best scenic points off the beaten track?
• Discovering the secrets behind traditional Swiss watchmaking
• How to live like a local in bustling cities such as Zurich or Lausanne

The carefully curated content is delivered to Swiss Specialists under the form of micro modules on Swiss Academy. It takes no more than a couple of minutes for these professionals to always stay on top of their game and be able to suggest the right activity to the right customer, at any given moment.

Future Implications

The success of Swiss Academy, as a breeding ground for Swiss ambassadors and an active driver to accommodate to the industry’s shift in demand for FIT, is promising for many sectors in the tourism field facing similar challenges. The solution can be replicated to help Swiss tourism thrive in locations other than Japan, or be used as a platform to collaborate and coalesce with other European destinations to attract tourists to the region together. Other destinations can foster its own ambassadors as well using its own version of BrandAcademy. Furthermore, the platform can provide a place for specialists to engage with each other, share knowledge and relevant information that will in turn help elevate their service to customers. All in all, BrandAcademy can be a highly impactful solution for the tourism industry struggling to adapt to rapidly changing trends.

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Company profile

Name:   Switzerland Tourism

Industry:   Tourism, Government Agency

Headquarters:   Switzerland

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Switzerland Tourism

Growing awareness & generating demand.

Representing a country renowned worldwide for its stunning landscapes, Switzerland Tourism wanted to grow awareness of Switzerland’s urban tourism within the German market.

Switzerland Tourism (ST) has been promoting demand for Switzerland as a holiday, travel and congress destination at home and abroad on behalf of the federal government for over 100 years.

The Challenge

Switzerland Tourism challenged Strava users in Germany to run 10 kilometers in 10 days to enter a prize draw for a chance to win a trip to Basel for two.

Switzerland is known worldwide as an outdoors mecca, with world-class hiking, mountain biking, trail running, and mountaineering. That being said, Switzerland’s beautiful cities are also well-worth spending time in, with vibrant arts, culture, and architecture to explore. Switzerland Tourism wanted to promote the country’s cities as an integral part of any Swiss holiday, especially if you enjoy running. Recognizing that Strava is home to the world’s largest community of active people, Switzerland Tourism wanted to build awareness among an audience receptive to active tourism. Additionally, Switzerland Tourism was drawn to the fact that Strava supports a plethora of activities, including mountain biking, running, walking, skiing, and hiking, which Switzerland is known for. Given that Germans comprise the largest nationality amongst tourists to Switzerland, Switzerland Tourism wanted to grow mindshare among and generate future demand within the German market. The Strava community in Germany is large, active, and highly engaged, making it a key channel to help further Switzerland Tourism’s marketing goals.

Challenge Joins (Germany)

Completions

“Discovering a Swiss city by running is a fun way to explore its beauty and cultural highlights in one sportive session. Distributing the challenge on Strava to promote our beautiful Swiss Cities as a great running destination for active people was a great success. We are keen on making new challenges for our grown community on Strava to further promote Switzerland and all the fun, active things that one can do here whilst enjoying one of the most beautiful landscapes, either nature or cities.” 

Katharina Frede

Marketing Distribution Manager

Switzerland Tourism used this Strava activation as a part of a wider campaign to increase awareness of running in Swiss cities. With 17,537 German Strava athletes joining the challenge, 12,265 completions, and 5 percent of athletes signing up for their mailing list , the challenge surpassed their initial projections. The challenge garnered 1.14M unique impressions and grew their club to 1,145 members by the end of the challenge. Strava clubs are a key component of any brand’s presence on Strava, as a club is a lifelong community for brands to tap into, grow, and continually engage with. 

Switzerland Tourism was pleased with overall results of the challenge and is looking at further opportunities to engage with their audience on Strava. For future activations, they are exploring how they could better optimize in-feed units and other additional promotions for their challenge to drive even more participation. They would like to explore challenges targeted at other key markets vital for Switzerland Tourism. They would also like to explore how they can run challenges for a broader range of activity types reflective of the wide range of sports and activities that Switzerland is famous for.

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Case study, tourism

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A case study represents a holistic, in-depth empirical analysis where the focus is on the understanding of a contemporary phenomenon in its real-life context in a particular point in time (Beeton 2005 ). What distinguishes it from most other research methods is its reliance on multiple sources of evidence. One of the key proponents of this method is Yin ( 2009 ) who advocates that case studies should be significant, mix practice with theoretical development , be contemporary in nature, and represent leading edge research. Its boundaries should be complete while evidence should be sufficiently displayed with reports written in an engaging manner. In essence, this study method represents an all-encompassing research strategy that covers design, data collection, and analysis.

Types of case studies

Types of case studies include intrinsic, instrumental, and collective. While the former explore a particular situation in isolation, instrumental cases seek to extrapolate wider lessons to...

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Beeton, S. 2005 The Case Study in Tourism Research: A Multi-Method Case Study Approach. In Tourism Research Methods: Integrating Theory with Practice, B. Ritchie, P. Burns and C. Palmer, eds., pp.37-48. Oxford: CABI.

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Dredge, D. 2006 Policy Networks and the Local Organization of Tourism. Tourism Management 27: 269-280.

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Garrod, B., and A. Fyall 2013 Contemporary Cases in Heritage. Oxford: Goodfellow.

Jennings, G. 2001 Tourism Research. Milton: Wiley.

Stake, R. 1995 The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Xiao, H., and S. Smith 2006 Case Studies in Tourism Research: A State-of-the-Art Analysis. Tourism Management 27:738-749.

Yin, R. 2009 Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Los Angeles: Sage.

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Honggen Xiao

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Fyall, A. (2014). Case study, tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_244-1

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• Hospitality Industry

Tourism in Switzerland: A successful summer 2023 for the Industry

September 21, 2023 •

4 min reading

The latest figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) have put even more spring in Swiss tourism’s step. Night stays in Switzerland for the months of June and July 2023 were recently published. And the news is good! Night stays (or hotel stays) were 8.6% higher in June 2023 versus June 2023. This confirms an earlier report indicating that in the first half of 2023, night stays increased 13.8% year on year.

Numbers recently published by the OFS show that night stays were up 4.5% in July 2023, compared with July 2022, driven by foreign demand (+14.9%). Domestic tourism was down ever so slightly (-0.8%), confirming the trend.

For SECO, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the trend for Switzerland is even rosier regarding the return of international tourists. In the six months to June 30, 2023, Switzerland recorded a whopping y-o-y increase of 33% in overnight stays by foreign travelers.

For SECO, night stays are projected to surpass pre-Covid levels for the first time, on the back of a slight rebound in Asian demand in particular. Inflation, which has eroded buying power (particularly in Europe and the United States), combined with the strength of the Swiss franc have kept a lid on the enthusiasm, however. The UK is the lone bright spot for otherwise soft European demand. However, Chinese visitors to this Alpine country have not returned in numbers comparable to those seen before Covid.

Night stays are almost evenly split between foreign and domestic tourists. In the first half of 2023, Swiss residents accounted for 12.2 million overnight stays, with the remaining 11.9 million (+28.7% y-o-y) coming from foreigners. In all, tourism accounts for roughly 5% of Swiss GDP.

Swiss Tourists Habits: A view from the field

“While the Swiss are travelling abroad again, even more often than in pre-Corona times, foreign guests are also travelling to the Engadin Valley again,” said Jan Steiner, Brand Manager Engadin. His Alpine resort, which includes the posh ski town of Saint-Moritz, recorded a slight y-o-y increase of 0.3% in May and June. This bodes well for the summer months, but much depends on the weather, he said.

For Jay Gauer, the director of the Trois Couronnes, a five-star hotel located in Vevey, Switzerland, “this year, Swiss tourists are travelling to other countries.” Indeed, the Swiss tend to vacation abroad, particularly Italy and France—where hotels and restaurants are markedly less expensive—during the summer months. Throughout the pandemic, the Swiss, however, were compelled, by travel restrictions—and encouragement by Roger Federer himself—, to further explore their own country.

A word of caution about strong summer data

But pent-up wanderlust and swollen travel budgets have sent the Swiss packing their bags for foreign destinations once again. While the season appears to be a good one, “without data on hotel stays for July and August, it is too early to draw conclusions,” Gauer cautioned. Gauer spearheaded a post-Covid initiative, called Dolce Riviera , to promote lakeside leisure activities and local restaurants in Switzerland’s “Riviera” area, which has been a crowd-pleaser for both tourists and locals.

Sergei Aschwanden, Director of Tourism of the Alpes Vaudoises (covering the Villars-Gryon ski resort), also cited many of the same factors that have kept Summer 2023 numbers in check: the strong Swiss franc, iffy weather in July and the decision by many Swiss holidaymakers to travel abroad on vacation. Yet, he said: “hoteliers are quite satisfied”. Even though initial numbers in his resort pointed to a 5% slowdown in night stays versus the summer of 2022, last year “was an exceptional season, with very sunny weather.” He mentioned a different factor that has the resort smiling: an increase in visitors in early fall. Indeed, summer is powering well into late September because of climate change and a new phenomenon that has taken Swiss ski resorts by storm: the Magic Pass. With more and more tourists around the world booking during ‘shoulder season’ to escape the heat, crowds and high prices of summer, some have questioned whatever happened to the off-season ? The popularity of the four-season lift pass has encouraged more and more visitors to take the chairlifts up to Alpine summits and descend the resort’s trails on foot or mountain bike.

Chinese Tourism in Switzerland: Where have all the tourists gone?

Where there were 133,769 Chinese who visited Switzerland in July 2019, only 46,167 visited in July 2023 (-97%). The tourism office in Lucerne, which has been a popular destination for the Chinese, has spoken, perhaps somewhat euphemistically, of a “transition year” in 2023. Yet, it is hard to imagine Chinese tourism returning to pre-Covid levels anytime soon.

“To me it’s not surprising to see Swiss tourism performing well, said Yong Chen, professor of economics at EHL Hospitality Business School, before cautioning “China is starting to come back, but I’m not that optimistic about how many tourists will come back and when.”

“The Chinese economy is not doing well”, Prof. Chen stated matter-of-factly. Despite the re-opening of direct flights between Geneva and Beijing, airfares, according to prof. Chen, have doubled or tripled and flights are relatively empty. He cited a recent flight in August where the plane was two-thirds empty. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a hub-to-hub plane so empty.” Dr. Chen doesn’t expect a complete recovery of Chinese tourism in Switzerland anytime soon as the Chinese economy struggles, discretionary consumer spending stalls and the geopolitical situation grows increasingly hostile.

“Given the tone of the present decade, tourism cannot thrive or even survive in an environment where there is so much tension.” Indeed, Chinese tourists have been few and far between in Switzerland since Covid. During the first four months of 2023, the number of Chinese visitors to Switzerland was down 87% and night stays dropped 68% compared to the same period in 2019 (a record-breaking year by almost all accounts). Administrative hurdles in China, including long waits for passports and Schengen visas, are exacerbating matters.

While it appears that Swiss tourism has enjoyed a strong summer, it remains to be seen how the impact of plummeting Chinese demand, along with other headwinds, will play out in the long run.

Translator/editor for EHL’s Department of Education and Research

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Switzerland Tourism

Switzerland Tourism partnered with VDX.tv to deliver reach, raise awareness and drive interactions through an omnichannel video solution.

Switzerland Tourism, the national marketing and sales organization for Switzerland, aims to position the country as a premier tourism destination. Following the travel lull due to Covid19, Switzerland Tourism was looking to get in front of and re-engage a large audience of potential travellers by promoting the Grand Tour of Switzerland.

Reaching New Audiences

Switzerland Tourism partnered with VDX.tv to launch an omnichannel video campaign reaching audiences through OTT and digital content across CTV, desktop and mobile. A household targeting strategy driven by CTV was employed to engage various members within a home and activate the power of household influence in decisions about upcoming trips. This tactic used within a wider omnichannel approach enabled Switzerland Tourism to extend its reach and brand impact across a large audience.

Switzerland Tourism was able to reach both native French and Dutch audiences with creative messaging in the local language.

The Switzerland Tourism campaign utilized video-driven ad units with multiple tabs, which allowed for a wide variety of information to accompany the video. One tab on the unit featured an interactive map with hotspots, each containing a CTA that triggered dynamic content to be displayed alongside the map. Another tab contained a gallery of Grand Tour highlights and details, which users could click on and be taken to the website for more information. The educational information and strong CTAs within the ad unit drove high-quality traffic to the Switzerland Tourism website.

The interactive nature of the tabs also enabled the campaign to gather user interest data that could be used to optimize future campaigns.

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Available Answers

Fill in the blanks:

• ____________ organised the first package holiday to Europe.
• The famous adventure sports in Switzerland which attract the tourists are __________ and ___________.
• The three famous Swiss dishes, popular worldwide are _______________ and ___________.
• _____________ situated between the peaks of Alps is known as 'Top of Europe'.
• _____________ is a medieval fortress belonging to the Duke of Savoy.
• The Chapel Bridge is located in the city of __________.

Match the following:

• 3. Explain briefly the location of Switzerland.
• 4. State three factors that have led to the development of Switzerland as a tourist destination.
• 5. Name the options available to adventure seekers in Switzerland.
• 6. Explain how do the mountains attract the tourists in Switzerland. What unique transport facilities are available to reach the mountains?