Location marketing creates regional added value

The speakers and guests explored the question of which concepts location marketing can use to be effective and successful in the long term in a digital and rapidly changing world.

Brigit Wyss, Economic Director of the Canton of Solothurn and member of the Greater Zurich Area Foundation Board, said: "Location marketing is undoubtedly a joint task - and yet each canton must pursue its own location strategy based on its own strengths." The canton of Solothurn wants to develop as an attractive place to invest and live as a whole. In addition to hard factors such as workforce potential, infrastructure and taxes, topics such as quality of life and housing as well as educational and leisure facilities are also included in the location strategy.

Mathias Binswanger, Professor of Economics at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland and private lecturer at the University of St. Gallen, explained what it takes for a region such as the Zurich economic area to remain attractive in international comparison. Among other things, he said: "An attractive region cannot guarantee life satisfaction for its residents. But a region is never attractive without a majority of satisfied residents."

Focus on technological expertise instead of sectors

Balz Hösly, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Greater Zurich Area, mentioned several strategic location levers for successfully positioning and marketing Switzerland and the Greater Zurich Area in the highly competitive international arena. "We are focusing our market development and communication strategy specifically on the technological expertise available in the economic area and no longer on the traditional industry perspective. In this way, we are addressing those companies that bring the greatest added value to the region in the form of innovative strength, qualified jobs, improved crisis resistance and ultimately also tax revenues," says Hösly.

Innovative companies also benefit above all from technology-savvy employees and skilled workers, whose skills are increasingly sought across all sectors, explained Hösly. The availability of talent and access to technology-relevant ecosystems and networks had replaced taxes as the most important factor in the attractiveness of a location. "However, an attractive and, above all, reliable tax system is still a prerequisite for even making it onto the list of possible locations for an internationally active company," added Hösly, referring to the ongoing tax reform.

_{Image: obs/Greater Zurich Area AG/Government Councillor Brigit Wyss}