Success of Asia promotion means rise in Switzerland’s popularity

The success of a six-month promotional partnership between global travel distributor GTA and Switzerland Tourism will boost longer stays in the destination from ten Asian source markets. Marketing to travel agents in mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand has promoted longer stays with the launch of two new tours by car or train.

“Great relationships with national tourist boards, hotels and providers of all kinds of destination services and experiences are at the heart of our value as a global travel distributor,” says Daryl Lee, GTA’s Head of Sales and Marketing for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. “We’ve been especially pleased by interest in the new Grand Tour and Grand Train Tour; especially as Swiss efficiency and the quality of its wide-ranging road and rail infrastructure make it a pleasure to explore its attractions by car and train."

“Our partnership with Switzerland Tourism means we can add their passion for their homeland to our own destination expertise and inspire customers to travel. As a result of our promotional partnership, we expect room nights to increase by more than 20% over the coming six months.”

Switzerland is aiming to capitalise on the interest in the destination by Asian travellers. According to GTA, last year the country enjoyed double digit increases in the number of room nights booked by travel agents in India and South Korea, while it was China’s tenth most popular destination.

“GTA is the perfect partner to promote longer stays in Switzerland for individual travellers with its deep, wide hotel portfolio in Switzerland and its excellent reach to the travel agent community in Asia” says Ivan Breiter, Director South East Asia, Switzerland Tourism.

To meet the increasing demand for touring itineraries, the Swiss Tourism industry has launched the Grand Tour of Switzerland for self-drive visitors and the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland using the all-in-one Swiss Travel Pass to explore by rail.

The Grand Tour includes twelve delightful drives with 44 location highlights and plenty of tips for excursions in towns and villages, at artistic and architectural sites, and through natural and historic landscapes. Routes cover all of the country's regions as well as four language zones, five Alpine passes, 22 lakes, eleven UNESCO World Heritage Sites and two biospheres.

The Grand Train Tour can be started from any rail station in the country and comprises the most attractive and panoramic routes that can be booked at any time of the year with no prescribed travel direction or duration.

sourced:traveldailynews.asia