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Switzerland Travel Experience 2022 shares 'Swisstainable' message

Switzerland Tourism’s biennial Switzerland Travel Experience Roadshow (STE) took place from 8-16 September. Concluding on a high note, eight lucky agents are now counting down to their own December visit to the alpine country, with countless more thoroughly inspired and geared up to assist clients with their Swisstainable travel bookings.

Switzerland Tourism’s biennial Switzerland Travel Experience Roadshow (STE) took place from 8-16 September. Concluding on a high note, eight lucky agents are now counting down to their own December visit to the alpine country, with countless more thoroughly inspired and geared up to assist clients with their Swisstainable travel bookings.

Grüezi, Bonjour, Bongiorno, Allegra!

The recent return of the Switzerland Travel Experience Roadshow saw an impressive 400 advisors across Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland and Christchurch attend the in-person events, connecting with the Switzerland Tourism ANZ team and key Swiss partners.

The hot topics? Learning all about the country’s outstanding sustainability strategy, aka Swisstainable, getting updated with the latest news and product experiences, and gathering tips for seamless travel.

A major takeaway from the event was that sustainability in Switzerland is more than just a trend, with the Swiss people and businesses being fully committed and engaged in the process and leading the way to a greener future with all sorts of innovative initiatives, experiences and ideas.

Talk about a breath of fresh air.

Sydney’s Switzerland Travel Experience Roadshow also featured an engaging panel hosted by Julia Zaetta (MC & Market Magazine Editor) discussing sustainable travel topics and tips for agents with Anil Rodricks (Country Manager Australia Lufthansa Group), Andrew Young (GM Sales TTC Tour Brands Oceania at The Travel Corporation), Matt Leedham (Founder at KarryOn) and Livio Goetz (Director AU & NZ at Switzerland Tourism).

Swiss panel
Julia Zaetta (MC & Market Magazine Editor), Livio Goetz (Director AU & NZ at Switzerland Tourism), Matt Leedham (Founder at KarryOn), Andrew Young (GM Sales TTC Tour Brands Oceania at The Travel Corporation) & Anil Rodricks (Country Manager Australia Lufthansa Group)

In line with, and as part of, the Swisstainable effort, a city campaign called ‘Run the Swiss Cities’ was also highlighted during STE.

Featuring twelve scenic routes across Zurich, Basel, Lugano and Geneva, this campaign heroes the cities’ architectural, historical and cultural aspects while showcasing their short proximities to pristine nature. It also encourages the discovery of more of the country on foot.

And while the recovery from Australia and New Zealand is gradually recovering, attendees were still impressed with the strong visitor numbers to Switzerland for summer this year: a 41.5 per cent improvement on 2021.

Liiov Birgit
Livio Goetz (Director AU/NZ Switzerland Tourism) & Birgit Weingartner (Marketing Mgr, Switzerland Tourism Sydney)

Considering the different challenges due to the pandemic and the economic and political crises, overnights for autumn are also looking positive at a 4 per cent increase in visitation.

As for ANZ visitor numbers, Switzerland Tourism shared that this market is on track to reach 2019 numbers by 2024.

Hosted by Livio Goetz, Birgit Weingartner and Michele Steinegger from Switzerland Tourism ANZ, attendees also met with Swiss partners: Céline Deplazes, Lucerne-Lake Lucerne Region; Peter Niederberger, Mt Titlis; Isabelle Rapisarda, Jungfrau Region; Dario Gross, Jungfrau Railways; Renato Julier, Interlaken Holiday Region; Andreas Nef, Swiss Travel System; Alan Ramsay, Schilthorn; Patricia Huber, Matterhorn Zermatt Cableways; Gabriele Huber, Glacier Express & Gornergrat Bahn; and Eliana Martinez, Swiss International Air Lines.

Missed the Road Shows? Get the Swiss product updates!

The new Eiger Express

1. Jungfrau Railways: Visitors to Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe can now cut travel time by 47 minutes with the new Eiger Express.

2. Jungfrau Region: Two new hotels are now available for booking in Grindelwald (Hotel Fiescherblick & Hotel Bergwelt).

3. Interlaken: The direct train from Zurich to Interlaken will commence on 11 Dec, and travellers can now enjoy the Goldenpass Express between Montreux and Interlaken without changing trains. Also, woodwork enthusiasts can check out the Trauffer World of Experiences in Hofstetten near Brienz.

Interlaken
Interlaken-Lucerne, Interlaken Express

4. Schilthorn: The new Schilthornbahn 20XX project is underway, which will reduce travel time to the peak to just 11.8mins.

5. Lucerne & Lucerne Region: Along with the opening of the Mandarin Oriental Palace on 24 Sept, the city will commence its winter experiences with Lucerne Live on Ice from 24 November and its Light Festival Lucerne on January 12, 2023.

6. Titlis & Engelberg: With 902 years of history, 54 restaurants and almost 2440 beds, this is Central Switzerland’s only publicly accessible glacier.

Glacier Express, Excellence Class

7. Glacier Express & Gornergrat Bahn: All First and Second Class carriages on the Glacier Express have been refurbished, and Excellence Class needs to be booked as early as possible due to popularity.

8. Matterhorn Zermatt Cableways: Coming in 2023 is the opening of the world’s highest border crossing, the Matterhorn Alpine Crossing between Zermatt and Cervinia; and Gran Becca, the first cross-border race in the history of the Ski World Cup.

Metterhorn
View of the Matterhorn from the Rothorn

9. Swiss Travel System: While regular Passes are available in First and Second classes for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 days, the Autumn Promotion 4-Day consecutive Pass from 19 Sep to 31 Oct 2022 is valid until the end of April 2023.

For more inspiration, head to MySwitzerland.com