Unspoilt nature, majestic mountains with eternal snow and glaciers, tranquil lakes filled with fresh spring water and the air pure and crisp like nowhere else in the world. The medieval towns invite guests for a shopping spree, be it for a genuine Swiss-Watch, or for some culinary treats like Swiss cheese and Swiss chocolate.
“Switzerland is a dream destination for many Filipino travelers. Since Switzerland Tourism started with a ‘fact finding’ mission in late-2014 and intensified its activities in the Philippines thereafter, the market grew from 23,081 annual overnights to 38,772 overnights. This represents an increase of not less than 67 percent,” said Urs Eberhard, executive vice president of the Swiss National Tourism Board.
Philippine tourists travel independently and like to discover a destination more in depth. “Filipino travel agents cater to this trend and create Mono Switzerland Products. We see a big potential for incentive trips to Switzerland, which highlights the combination of Swiss quality and prestige, Swiss hospitality and efficiency, and hassle-free travel within the destination make Switzerland the ideal choice for a reward trip,” Eberhard said.
Nowhere in the world will you have access with a single ticket. The Swiss Travel Pass covers the country’s 26,000 kilometers of rail, bus and boat routes. It covers rides on buses and trams of 75 towns and cities, trips on Swiss famous scenic routes, including the Glacier Express and the GoldenPass Line, and free entry to more than 480 museums where all accompanied children up to 16 years of age can travel completely free of charge.
For self-drive or chauffeur drive vacation the “Grand Tour of Switzerland” is the ideal choice. It takes tourists on a 1,600-km road trip through the country’s most beautiful regions. Along the way, tourists can discover the four linguistic regions of Switzerland, five Alpine passes, 11 Unesco world heritage sites and 22 of the most beautiful lakes.
Food tourism
Food tourism has progressively developed into an ever more powerful trend among travelers around the world. Switzerland, even though famous for its cheese and chocolate, offers one of the largest varieties of European cuisines where every region has a wide array of specialties for all four seasons. Culinary sight-seeing tours with locals are also booming. For example, the Zurich Food Tour, a cultural hot spot of Zurich-West, features the background and history behind the city’s culinary revolution. Local delicacies feature different types of rich and organic vegetables, meat, seafood and local drinks.
Women-oriented
Eighty percent of travel decisions are made by women, whether married, single or divorced and regardless of the country of origin. Offers and itineraries focus on the decision-makers—women. The Geneva Girls’ Guide, for example, was compiled for women by women. The guide covered inputs from local female ambassadors who are passionate about their city and its incredible, cosmopolitan offering.
Alpine x urban
Guests, especially from long-haul markets, like to combine the urban lifestyle with the alpine/nature experiences. Combining trendy city hotels with the traditional rural hospitality of a chalet hotel is now a trend. Experiences with eternal snow, a Swiss handicraft, and a jazz or classical concert happening on the same day are what travelers are looking for. These are all in Switzerland, where distances are short and fantastically connected to the Swiss Travel System.
Destination gathering
There are students who study abroad and family members who live far away from each other due to work assignments. As a consequence, we see more and more of multi-generation families who combine gathering with a vacation. They prefer destinations where all members of the group and all ages can have fun and memorable holiday experiences. Where else in the world can you do that better than in Switzerland, where tourism attractions are just a stone throw away from each other?
Health and beauty
Recently, there’s the strong comeback of health and beauty tourism. At the start, visitors came to Switzerland to recover from health issues. The magic of our crystal-clear mineral water combined with the fresh clean mountain air saved many lives and made people feel better again. No wonder that nowadays, many generations later, visitors had rediscovered Switzerland as the must place to be for healthy and beautiful vacations.