Switzerland Tourism has announced its Director for Australia & New Zealand, Livio Goetz, will leave Sydney to take up a new role looking after the Gulf Coast Countries (GCC) based in Dubai, effective from 1 July 2023.
Mr Goetz, who is also the European Travel Commission of the Australia Chapter’s Vice-Chair, has been in the ANZ role at Switzerland Tourism for four years.
In his new position, Mr Goetz will be responsible for Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, succeeding Matthias Albrecht, who is the new Director for the Nordic Countries.
Switzerland Tourism Head of Markets East Simon Bosshart said: “With his broad and long-standing international experience, Livio Goetz is the right person for this priority market.”
“I am delighted to hand over our office in Dubai to the capable hands of this tourism expert and marketing specialist.”
Mr Goetz said: “I am excited about the new challenges and opportunities this role will bring.”
To Switzerland Tourism’s travel trade partners, he added: “I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for your support and collaboration over the years.”
“It has been an absolute pleasure working with you and I am proud of the successes we have achieved together. I will always cherish the memories we have created and the partnerships we have built.”
Mr Goetz said the Australian and New Zealand market shows a strong recovery with a high demand for travel to Switzerland.
“Navigating Switzerland Tourism through a global pandemic has been challenging, but the team managed to maintain its relationships with the ANZ travel industry and the numbers show that recovery is well underway.”
The winter season in Switzerland has performed particularly well with overnight figures in January reporting an increase of 7.8 per cent compared to a record year in 2019.
Switzerland Tourism will announce a replacement Director for Australia & New Zealand soon.
