New quality label for Swiss family hotels
Necessity breeds ingenuity, even in tourism. To compete with cheaper vacation offers in the eurozone, some Swiss hotels are positioning themselves as vacation destinations specifically for families. They are promoting themselves with the new «Premium Family Hotels» quality label.
The seven Swiss hotels, including the Märchenhotel Bellevue Braunwald GL and the Rocksresort in Laax GR, already positioned themselves as particularly family-friendly without the label. However, as members of the "Premium Family Hotels", they now impose even stricter quality criteria on themselves. For example, 50 hours of professional childcare, spread over seven days a week, must be guaranteed. In addition, the hotels must provide at least two of their own indoor or outdoor attractions for sports and games. At the same time, the offers for adults must be attractive - for example thanks to sauna and wellness areas.
"In the past, a family offer was understood to mean that the children had to like it. Today, families are seen as a cluster of adults and children," explained Jürg Schmid, Director of Switzerland Tourism, at a media conference in Zurich. Thanks to the new label, hotels will be able to present themselves more strongly on the market because they can bundle their marketing activities, Schmid continued. The main target customers are families in Switzerland. The aim is to persuade them to stay in Switzerland during their vacations instead of traveling to other countries close to the border. Families in neighboring countries, particularly in Germany and France, are also being targeted. "We are positioning ourselves in the family segment abroad as the most natural playground in the world," said Schmid.
Share knowledge
42.4 percent of all mountain tourists in Switzerland are families. They account for 5.8 million overnight stays in hotels and vacation homes (hotel and parahotel industry, source: Switzerland Tourism 2013). It is not possible to quantify how many new guests are attracted to Switzerland by the new label or how many are prevented from leaving. "This type of label is always about sharing experiences. The hotels share their knowledge and improve as a result," Schmid told the SDA news agency on the sidelines of the media conference. A total of around 30 label groups are active in Switzerland, such as Swiss Deluxe Hotels (41 Swiss luxury hotels) and Leading Hotels of the World (global alliance of luxury hotels). There are also quality and sustainability labels. The "Premium Family Hotels" label is open to all hotels that can afford the offer in the criteria catalog. According to the tourism experts, this is also possible for three-star hotels.
The hotels pay an annual basic contribution of CHF 10,000 plus individual surcharges for the label. Tourism experts expect around 15 hotels to carry the label in three years' time. However, there are many more family hotels - currently around 90. The umbrella association Hotelleriesuisse also awards the "family-friendly hotel" specialization,
but with less stringent requirements than "Premium Swiss Family Hotels". (SDA)
