The 17th edition of Switzerland Travel Mart (STM), the most important incoming trade fair of the Swiss tourism industry, saw the active participation of 500 leading tour operators and media professionals. The mart provided them a platform to interact with 380 Swiss tourism suppliers to explore the business opportunity to further grow their business.
The event was held in Bern, the capital of Switzerland from 31 May – 2 June. STM 2013 saw the largest foreign delegation from North America (47 participants), China (41), Great Britain (38), and South East Asia (32). The number of buyers from countries such as India, Russia, the Gulf States, Poland, and Brazil, also increased as compared to the last edition of STM. The objective of the STM was to strengthen and expand the presence of Switzerland as a holiday, travel, and conference destination in the programme of tour operators around the world.
Welcoming the delegates, Juerg Schmid, CEO, Switzerland Tourism, said that Switzerland, in a recent survey of country tourism brands, remains number one in natural beauty and number three in authenticity. “Our goal for this year’s STM is to trigger contracts for 270,000 additional overnight stays,” he said and added that this corresponds to tourism revenue of about 72 million Swiss francs (CHF) and will establish the basis for increasing value added by a multiple of that amount. The large number of attendees proves that the premium destination of Switzerland can enjoy high levels of demand in spite of the strong franc.” The overall potential of all attending buyers is impressive: they represent a worldwide purchasing power of CHF 600 million, which corresponds to 3 million overnight stays and 1.5 million visitors.
According to him, the STM platform enables us to turn tour operators into real Switzerland specialists. “In many countries with significant potential for tourism in Switzerland, especially in the strategic growth markets of Russia, India, and China, guests book their visits to Switzerland almost exclusively through agents and tour operators,” Schmid said and emphasised the importance of being present in the market: “To stay competitive, our presence with agents and tour operators and thus with clients is indispensable, regardless of whether clients book immediately or at first merely want information on travel in Switzerland.”
Further divulging details about the STM 2013, Urs Eberhard, Executive Vice President, Markets and Meetings, Switzerland Tourism, said the biannual event has hit a new record this year with the highest demand the event has ever seen. “Top and leading tour operators from more than 50 countries around the world have come to participate in the STM 2013 – our highest attendance yet. With the current CHF600 mil turnover generated by 1.5 million visitors and 3 million overnights last year, we expect the numbers to increase with an additional CHF 72 million and 270,000 overnights from this year’s STM.”
Markus Lergier, President, Bern Tourism, stated that STM is very important for the destination’s future. “We see this as an opportunity to showcase our products to the world travel fraternity, which is here to attend the event. Following the mart, we expect a considerable increase in the number of tourists, especially the ones are coming from new markets,” he added.
Strong growth projected from India
According to Stephan Heuberger, Director – India, Switzerland Tourism, Switzerland continues to be a dream destination for Indians and India is important for Switzerland owing to the fact that 41.5 per cent tourists from India visit Switzerland during the off season. “Indian outbound travellers are high-yield visitors. Latest trends show an interest in FIT visits with soft adventure, overnight stays in places not yet known in India and trips possibly outside the main travel season. Snow holidays mesmerise, and honeymooners have Switzerland high on their agenda,” he added.
Currently, India ranks 14th in terms of total overnight volume, 12th in terms of turnover and seventh in terms of daily expenditure (CHF 300). India contributed 527,061 overnight volume all accommodations basis in 2012 (overnight volume hotels was 474,882). “We see great potential in India due to its strong population, GDP growth and high share of young and first-time visitors. The India market is estimated to grow by 45-50 per cent during 2013-16 and it grew 13.8 per cent per annum during 2005-12. Of the total visitors from India, 77.4 per cent are first time visitors and 53.3 per cent visitors are less than 35 years of age, the report says.
According to him, the main attraction for Indian travellers is the easily accessible snow covered mountains. “Natural beauty, efficiency, safety, cleanliness and the Swiss Travel System are other winning factors.” he added. Divulging the travel pattern from India, the research report states that the Indians typically prefer big cities such as Lucerne, Lake Lucerne, Zurich Region and Bernese Oberland.
“First timers visit the longstanding ‘musts’ in our market: Titlis and Jungfrau. FIT clients are more and more interested in discovering smaller places,” he said and added groups usually stay in larger hotels away from city centers and FIT’s like to stay in central 3 to 4 star hotels.
Speaking about market challenges, the report says that the late decision pattern, valid for most Indians, together with the need for detailed inputs regarding their financial situation creates problems to obtain the compulsory Schengen visa on time, even though the Swiss Visa Centers efficiency stands out against others.
