JEDDAH, 9 March 2006 — Swiss Tourism on Tuesday unveiled “Six universal reasons” why Saudis should visit or revisit Switzerland and experience a “memorable and pleasurable” travel experience.
Recognized for over a century as a first-choice destination by leisure and business travelers, the country is now being positioned by its Zurich-based Switzerland Tourism under the theme “Experiencing the natural wonders of Switzerland.”
The key components of the new strategy are based on a corporate philosophy of “leadership through quality” which includes dynamism, transparency and active participation, a visiting team of Swiss Tourism told a press conference at the Movenpick Hotel.
“Our objective is to position Switzerland as a country with the most exceptional natural features where visitors can enjoy truly authentic alpine holidays,” Federico Sommaruga, director of Switzerland Tourism for the GCC area, said. “To achieve this aim, Swiss Tourism has developed this year’s campaign on the basis of six universal reasons which invite vacationers to dream, to travel, to discover the wonders of nature, to be astonished, to move and to be moved,” he said.
“In other words, “getting back to nature” is the essence of the six universal reasons inspired by the rich diversity of experiences, which can be found only in Switzerland,” he added.
Swiss Consul General Adrien Evequoz said that the Swiss missions in the Kingdom had been giving visas to Saudis and certain other expatriates within 24 hours of the submission of applications.
Habib A. Syed, area manager of Swiss International Air Lines, said the airline’s integration with Lufthansa offered better connections and facilities. “You can now travel by any of the two airlines to Switzerland at the same price,” he said and detailed the regular weekly schedule of flights between Switzerland and the Kingdom.
Among the GCC countries, Saudi Arabia represents the most important tourist market for Switzerland and up to 60 percent of all overnight stays in the country are visitors from the Kingdom. In total, about 150,000 Saudis and 250,000 GCC residents visit Switzerland each year and account for a quarter of a million overnight stays annually, spending an average of 450 Swiss francs per person per day.
The Swiss team included Beat Dreier, deputy managing director and director marketing and sales of Geneva Tourism, Maurus Lauber, head of marketing of Zurich Tourism and Thomas Heimberg, manager marketing communication at Zurich Airport.