Graubünden is increasingly focusing on the Swiss market in terms of tourism

The canton of Graubünden recorded 4.7 million overnight hotel stays in 2015. In 2008, the number of overnight hotel stays was 6.2 million and the euro was around 1.60 francs. In the meantime, the euro has become weaker, which is having a serious impact on the entire tourism industry. January 15, 2015 changed a lot, said the President of Graubünden Ferien (GRF), Marcel Friberg, on Friday in Chur. On this day, the Swiss National Bank abandoned the minimum euro exchange rate. Friberg assumes that the exchange rate of the euro to the Swiss franc will not change much in the near future and that the tourism industry will have to live and do business with the current exchange rate.

Three directions

The cantonal marketing organization has decided on three strategic directions in its 2017 to 2020 strategy presented on Friday. The fact that GRF wants to focus more on the domestic market is due to the fact that the Swiss are more likely to remain loyal to the largest vacation region than foreigners, for whom vacations in Switzerland have become more expensive due to the falling euro exchange rate. Competencies and innovation, product development and marketing as well as the expansion of services for regional destinations and service providers are the three main thrusts of GRF. Part of the strategy is a digital offensive in market development. The GRF marketing organization works with a budget of CHF 11 million per year, CHF 7 million of which comes from the canton. GRF has not set itself a specific target in terms of the number of overnight hotel stays. "We simply need to increase the number of overnight stays again," said GRF President Friberg, who also warned that the viability of tourism could one day be called into question if the number of overnight stays continues its downward trend unabated. (SDA)