Switzerland Tourism is moving beyond growth numbers, focusing on sustainable travel and targeted experiences for key segments. And it is doing so with the support of traveller intelligence.
The organisation conducts the Tourism Monitor Switzerland survey once every four years to yield extensive data on travellers’ motivations, preferences, and behaviours throughout their journey. The latest research initiative engaged over 20,000 travellers from 147 source markets across 600 municipalities.
Switzerland Tourism’s chief marketing officer (east), Simon Bosshart, shared that insights from the survey helps the NTO to intensify its Travel Better strategy this year.
Travel Better, which prioritises enriching the travel experience and sustainability over solely pursuing visitor growth, is built upon five core pillars. Sustainable travel is among the five core pillars, and a cornerstone of that is Switzerland Tourism’s Swisstainable programme.
Bosshart explained that Swisstainable serves as an “acknowledgement of a company’s achievements” in sustainability efforts, and is “not a certification”. There are now 2,184 tourism suppliers, such as Zurich Tourism Board and Rigi, in the Swisstainable programme, but with over 40,000 tourism suppliers across Switzerland, Bosshart said efforts are ongoing to get more players on board.
During a trade briefing earlier this week in Singapore, Switzerland Tourism’s marketing and communication manager South-east Asia – Singapore, Nazrul Hakim Jumahat outlined this year’s marketing campaign for the region, drawing on intelligence from the Tourism Monitor Switzerland survey.
The campaign will target four traveller segments: Local Explorer (interested in culture and hidden gems), Pleasure Seeker (seeking luxury and exclusive experiences), Bonding Educator (families with young children), and Active Adventure (focused on outdoor pursuits).
Tailored activities and communications will be developed to resonate with the specific interests of these key groups.
This fresh direction comes at a time of declining overnights among travellers from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. There was a 12 per cent decrease in overnights in 2024 compared to 2023.
In 2024, Singapore was Switzerland’s leading source market in South-east Asia, generating over 30 per cent of all overnights from the region.
Batiste Pilet, director South-east Asia, explained that while South-east Asia contributed a total of 737,229 overnights in 2024, the decline reflects a normalisation of the competitive landscape.
Pilet anticipates moderate growth from South-east Asia over the next few years.
