SWITZERLAND Tourism has set its sights on young travellers to achieve 10 per cent growth in arrivals from India in 2014 after two years of stagnant tourism figures.
Ritu Sharma, deputy director for India, commented: “2012 and 2013 have not been great years for us because of factors like the rupee depreciation and slowdown in the economy.”
“We are looking to tap the youth segment who likes to travel on their own and are looking for new experiences, new destinations, different cuisines and adventure to meet our target,” she added.
The NTO experienced modest two per cent growth in Indian arrivals over the last two years and a significant eight per cent drop in May 2013. Full-year arrivals for 2013 stood at 511,000 and the target is for 565,000 arrivals this year.
“With India scheduled to go for elections later this year, we are expecting strong growth in numbers from the third week of May. After the 2009 polls we experienced double-digit growth in tourist arrivals,” said Stephan Heuberger, director for India, Switzerland Tourism.
This year, Switzerland Tourism will carry out consumer outreach programmes, e-marketing, and advertising campaigns in electronic and print media. It will also reach out to smaller travel agencies in non-metro Indian cities through training programmes.
