Tag Archives: Switzerland

Switzerland Tourism, in an effort to catalyse tourism development across India, has introduced several new attractions, experiences and activities for both popular and lesser known destinations in Switzerland. The recently conducted annual roadshow in India across cities of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Delhi witnessed over 900 participants from the travel and tourism trade industry. A special B2B session was held in each city allowing the Indian travel agents to meet and discusses business prospects with the Swiss delegations. Claudio Zemp, Director – India, Switzerland Tourism, said, “This year has been a remarkable year for Switzerland Tourism with Ranveer Singh coming on board and promoting the destination with his charm, unmatched energy and fun personality which thoroughly matches the image Switzerland Tourism wanted to portray. In terms of growth from India, we had a fantastic year with a year to date growth of 25.1 per cent more overnights. We are thankful to our partners for their continued support and we hope that we welcome more tourists for the upcoming season.” Ritu Sharma, Deputy Director, Switzerland Tourism, India, says, “In the past few years, Switzerland tourism has upped the ante to attract more tourists from India. Apart from the key metros, we are also penetrating into Tier I & II cities by conducting training sessions in these markets to ensure that the travel trade is well equipped to answer queries relating to our offerings.” ­­­­­­

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has launched a travellers’ competition ahead of World Tourism Day in order to promote responsible travel. The initiative is part of the ‘Travel.Enjoy.Respect’ campaign taking place within the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017. The winner of the competition will be awarded a one-month trip across the world visiting sustainable tourism initiatives. The winner’s across the world journey will be supported by Explore WorldWide, an adventure travel group offering a wide range of activities and experiences with a commitment to responsible travel. Destinations including Colombia, Germany, Mexico, Ras al-Khaimah and the Léman region in Switzerland have offered to host the winner and help them discover responsible and sustainable tourism practices. “Every action counts and travellers have a strong role to play in building a more sustainable tourism sector. Imagine the impact of one small action multiplied by millions,” said Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of UNWTO. “We want to inspire all travellers to be the change they want to see in the world.”

Jet Airways has appointed Discover the World to provide sales and marketing in Switzerland. Jenny Adams, CEO, Discover the World, says, ““Discover is delighted to partner with Jet Airways for the first time. Our team in Switzerland, headed by Director Richard Gugerli, will expand the airline’s visibility, helping to increase its revenues especially through its code share partnership with Air France/KLM.” From 2017 end, Jet Airways will fly to India 54 times a week from London Heathrow, Paris CDG, and Amsterdam to Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai. This includes new services from Amsterdam to Bengaluru and Paris CDG to Chennai which will commence on October 29, 2017. Jet Airways also flies daily from Amsterdam to Toronto.

Switzerland has created a single platform in Mumbai to represent key Swiss interests in diplomacy, trade and investment as well as tourism, along with the continuation of providing consular services to Swiss citizens. The new and integrated set-up located in Nariman Point is considered as a milestone for Switzerland’s presence in India’s financial capital. In February 2016, the visa section in Mumbai was closed and visa processing within India was centralised at the Embassy in New Delhi. Subsequently, the Consulate General was reorganised internally with allocation of additional resources to the culture and public diplomacy department within the new scope of activities. The renovation of the offices began simultaneously. After completion of the remodeling, the Swiss Business Hub India and Switzerland Tourism have come under the single roof of the Consulate General. The grand opening of the new state-of-the-art offices took place on 26 May, 2017. Consul General Martin Bienz welcomed Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud, Director, Directorate for Resources, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Andreas Baum, Ambassador of Switzerland to India, Daniel Küng, CEO of Switzerland Global Enterprise, Jodok Brunner, BBL at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new premises. The celebrations continued in the evening at the Trident Hotel followed by a music programme by musicians Sanjay Divecha and Varun Venkit. Ambassador Andreas Baum announced the new public diplomacy campaign for 2017-2018 which will be ‘70 years of Swiss-Indian Friendship, Connecting Minds Inspiring the Future’. The gala reception was attended by representatives from the diplomatic, business and culture communities in Mumbai. The Consulate General of Switzerland in Mumbai was the leading visa-issuing office within the Swiss network abroad, providing up to 80,000 visas per year.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Ivan Chu and Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of the Lufthansa Group, signed a new co-operation agreement that will see the airline code share on flights operated by Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines to a number of destinations in Continental Europe. Reciprocally, the Lufthansa Group will codeshare on Cathay Pacific services to four of the airline’s most popular destinations in Southwest Pacific. Under the agreement, Cathay Pacific will offer 14 new destinations in Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Norway, Italy, Switzerland and Austria with the “CX” code placed on the following services operated by airlines in the Lufthansa Group. The Lufthansa Group will place its airlines’ codes on services operated by Cathay Pacific between Hong Kong and Auckland as well as between Hong Kong and Cairns, Melbourne and Sydney. Under a single booking, passengers from Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Zurich will be able to check through and seamlessly transfer to their final destination in Auckland or Australia via Hong Kong International Airport. The agreement extends to both airlines’ frequent flyer programmes. Tickets for the new code-share destinations will be available for sale from 5 April 2017 for travel commencing from 26 April 2017.

Rhätische Bahn (RHB) in partnership with Turkish Airlines recently hosted a familiarisation trip to Davos Klosters and Engadin St. Moritz in Switzerland for leading travel agents based in Delhi. The objective of the Fam was to increase visibility for luxury destinations like Davos Klosters and Engadin St. Moritz, along with the scenic Bernina Express train journey. Make My Trip, Yatra, TUI, Flight Shop, Ottila International, Experiential Travel, Thomas Cook and Ambe World Travels participated in the Fam. The group spent 6 nights in the Graubünden region; 3 nights each in Davos & St. Moritz. They visited Europe’s highest brewery – Monstein, Clavadeler Alp where they experienced the art of cheese making, a scooter ride along the Sertig Valley and attended a music show led by the regional band from Davos “orgalifründä Rinerhorn”.  In St. Moritz the group was taken on a food safari night at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, one of the highlights of during their stay. The itinerary also included hotel inspections such as that of Da Primo Hotel, Intercontinental Davos, Arabella Hotel  Walduus Davos , Turmhotel Victoria, Swiss Mountain Hotel Ameron in Davos,  Badrutt’s Palace and other 3-4 star properties in St. Moritz, to famirialise the trade with budgeted options in the luxury destination.