15% Jump in Indian Tourists Visiting Switzerland in 2016; Launch Two Grand Tour Packages

By Manu Sharma

Switzerland has witnessed a strong growth in the number of tourists travelling from India in the year 2015.  The total number of 5, 9400 Indian tourists visited Switzerland in 2015 and expect a 15 percent jump in Indian tourists during 2016.

Talking to the media, Ritu Sharma, Deputy Director and Media Manager – India, Switzerland Tourism said, “Indian economy is booming with over 6.5% GDP growth and so have the spending of the Indian tourists. More and more Indian tourists are discovering the joys of travelling independently in Switzerland, especially among the large IT and other professionals living in the four southern states. We have seen a contribution of 30% coming from individuals and 60% from group packages in south India.”

“More ever the spending of an average Indian family has also gone up over the years. Presently it’s about 240 Swiss francs per individual per day,” remarks Sharma and adds that “many Indian tourists consider Switzerland to be the most expensive destination in the world but that’s not exactly true. Yes, we are among the most preferred destinations of the world and cater to the affordable Indian tourists.”

In fact, Switzerland after staying relatively stagnant over the last three years, the number of tourists visiting Switzerland from India jumped 22 percent in 2015. Growth was particularly strong in June with 40 percent more Indians travelling to Switzerland compared to the same period last year. Bengaluru has always been an important city for individual travellers but there are also increasing numbers of group travellers from the interiors of Karnataka.

Claudio Zemp, Director – India, Switzerland Tourism, said, “Tourism from India has grown at a sharp clip this year. The increase is particularly strong in tier 2 and tier 3 cities in South India. The two tours will allow tourists to experience the best of Switzerland, from mountain excursions to scenic train journeys, at their own pace and as per their own preferences. English is widely spoken in Switzerland, the Swiss are very friendly people and Indian food is found easily. Hopefully, this will urge even more Indians to visit our wonderful country.”

Since most Indian tourists visit Switzerland during the months of May to July each year and the focus is now to bring them throughout the year. Switzerland Tourism launched the ‘In Love with Switzerland’ campaign to promote winter tourism in the Indian market. “We are promoting winter tourism for the Indian tourists selling destinations such as St Moritz, Davos Klosters, Rhaetian Railways and Ticino for winter tourism,” said Zemp. 

Launch Two Packages – Grand Tour and Grand Train Tour

Switzerland Tourism has launched two promotional campaigns aimed at wooing visitors from Bengaluru to travel to Switzerland in the summer season, amid a general surge of tourists from South India to the picturesque alpine country.

The Grand Tour of Switzerland is a 1,600 km road-trip linking the country’s most popular, touristic and natural destinations in one scenic journey. Travellers can embark on this tour from different places like Lucerne, Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lugano, etc. and can split it into any number of journeys. The Grand Tour of Switzerland allows you to discover different facets of Switzerland as per your own preference. This has been an extremely successful promotion over the summer, with many tourists exploring Switzerland by car and is also perfect for the upcoming summer holidays.

The second campaign is titled the ‘Grand Train Tour of Switzerland.’ Indians are particularly fond of train travel and are among the largest users of the Swiss Travel Pass. As the name suggests, the tour takes travellers across the country along Switzerland’s most popular and picturesque train routes like the Glacier Express, the Bernina Express and the GoldenPass.

Lucerne and Lake Lucerne Region are on both the itineraries and the representatives of Lucerne, Lake Lucerne Navigation Company and Mt. Pilatus were also present during the presentation.

Lucerne is an ideal starting point for the exploration of the Lake Lucerne Region and offers a wide range of attractions to discover. Centuries-old sights such as the Chapel Bridge, the Musegg Wall, the Lion Monument and the historic Old City form the exciting contrast to contemporary Lucerne: the KKL Luzern, the abundance of restaurants and an attractive range of shopping. Lucerne is also called the festival city with it’s many delights throughout the year, with blues, jazz, rock, comics or the splendidly colorful Carnival.

Mt Pilatus, the home mountain of Lucerne offers the perfect three way golden roundtrip in summer. You can take a series of cable cars up to the mountain and take the world’s steepest cogwheel on the way down and connect on a boat which brings you back to Lucerne. PILATUS-BAHNEN AG has invested 18 million Swiss francs in a new aerial cableway ‘Dragon Ride’ (Fräkmüntegg – Pilatus Kulm) which has been in operation since April’15. The centerpiece consists of two modern cabins which give passengers the impression of flying thanks to their spacious interior, cockpit-like design and large windows – a mountain experience that gets the adrenalin pumping.

A boat ride on Lake Lucerne, which has the most extensive inland navigation system in Europe, is simply a must. The panorama boat, the five paddle steamers or the elegant catamaran are certain to render your stay extraordinary. There is also an extremely popular dinner cruise which offers Indian cuisine – this cruise is going to be available daily in the summer peak season from May 2, 2016 onwards.