Campaign aims to make off-seasons more attractive for mountain areas
Instead of focusing solely on skiing and hiking, mountain regions should also be able to benefit from the off-seasons in the future.
The heatwave year 2018 also brought good summer figures to the mountain regions. However, good summers cannot compensate for the decline in winter tourism. This is the conclusion reached by the Swiss Tourism Federation in a new thesis paper on the future of mountain regions. Mountain tourism is too seasonal, it concludes. Marketing still focuses on summer and winter business and primarily promotes skiing and hiking.
Innovative products are in demand
The association is now appealing to local marketing organizations, hoteliers, innkeepers and railroad operators to focus on the whole year. New, innovative products are needed to put spring and fall on the map for mountain tourists. Arosa, for example, shows what this could look like with its newly opened bear park. This should attract visitors to Graubünden throughout the year, regardless of the season.
In many cases, the association says, the required efforts are "an imperative and vital measure". The reason: In the past, mountain regions made their main revenue primarily in winter. But climate change is now causing winters to become shorter and summers longer - and revenues more uncertain.
Winter loses importance
The fact that mountain regions will no longer be able to rely on winters in the future has long been a "done deal" in the tourism industry. Already at the presentation of the above-mentioned bear park in Arosa in April last year, co-project manager Stephan Oetiker made it unmistakably clear: In 50 or 60 years, no one will be interested in skiing anymore. Instead, the heat-plagued city dwellers will increasingly seek out the cooler mountain regions in summer (Werbewoche.ch reported). It is quite possible that the forecast explained at that time could come true even earlier. This development will lead to the mountain regions becoming more attractive again in summer than the cities. Currently, the situation is still different: The cities are increasing the number of overnight stays and attracting more and more tourists, while the mountain regions are lagging behind.
"Changing from trot to canter".
This discrepancy between mountain regions and cities is currently one of the biggest problem children of Swiss tourism. Dominique de Buman, President of the Swiss Tourism Federation (STV), called for Swiss tourism to "change from a trot to a gallop" during his opening speech at this year's AGM in Fribourg on August 17, 2018. A little over a month ago, the STV therefore published the aforementioned "12 Theses on the Future of Tourism in Mountain Areas" in collaboration with the Swiss Association for Mountain Areas SAB. Among other things, the paper contains innovative examples and is intended to serve as a basis for further actions and measures (Download as PDF).
Switzerland Tourism is also moving away from focusing solely on summer and winter. In the past, the marketing organization has primarily marketed the two "classic" mountain seasons and will now launch a national fall campaign for the first time. This will focus on the "worlds of nature, gastronomy and culture". It will be presented to the public in detail on August 30 in Zurich. The campaign will promote "autumn as an independent tourist season with potential. (hae)
