We spoke to Matthias Albrecht, director of Switzerland Tourism in the GCC, for more insight.
“The turnaround has been made in the European markets. The Euro became around 10 per cent stronger compared to the Swiss Franc by end of Summer 2017 –this made Switzerland 10 per cent cheaper and, subsequently, the European feeder markets to grew accordingly,” explains Albrecht.
“Switzerland was and still is very popular in the Gulf states,” he says. “The green nature, crystal clear lakes and snow-capped mountains, peaceful cities and villages attract every year more visitors from the UAE to visit Switzerland.”
The Grand Tour of Switzerland, which remains the focus of the country’s marketing efforts in the GCC and worldwide, is a 1,600-km long route that connects the best destinations, experiences and attractions of Switzerland. “It’s the perfect product for the GCC. Travellers from the GCC love to explore the nice places by themselves - they move on from place to place and stop wherever they like to… it’s individuality and freedom at the same time.”
Albrecht reiterates, “Nature is the reason number one why Arabs travel to Switzerland. In the UAE, we will concentrate on health tourism and winter holidays as well. There is a potential not only from Arabs but also western expatriates.”
The average expenditure for GCC is CHF430 ($465) per day. Figures shared by him (available up to November last year) show that the Gulf countries didn’t perform as well as expected last year when compared to the previous year. Overnight stays were down 4.3 per cent, but this glitch is explained by regional conflict. “We haven’t managed to reach the one million GCC visitor mark in 2017, mainly due to the Qatar crisis, but we are confident to reach it by 2018.”