Aletsch region presents itself to an audience of millions in China
On August 4, one of the largest Chinese TV stations was a guest in the Valais Alps and filmed a program. A coup from a marketing point of view.
"Wife's Romantic Trip" is the name of the format of the Hunan TV station. Chinese women who can no longer fulfill their roles as mothers and wives are given the opportunity to go on romantic short vacations. It is the biggest project of the TV group this year. The selected participants are real stars in China, such as the presenter Xie Na, who with 105 million followers is one of the most followed people on Weibo, the Chinese Facebook pedant.
The fact that the season finale was crowned with an overnight stay in a tent on Lake Bettmer is due, among other things, to the marketing organization Matterhorn Region (MRAG) and its partner network in the long-distance markets.
Created in 2017 by Valais/Wallis Promotion and its partners, the Matterhorn Region organization aims to exploit synergies and jointly market Valais experiences under the "Valais - Matterhorn Region" brand in distant markets such as Greater China, which includes Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, South Korea and North America.
Matterhorn Region organized the reception of the production team of 75 people in Valais and took care of the formalities for the film permit. "This shoot offers Valais a unique appearance. More than half of the Chinese population will watch this program, which means that almost 500 million people will discover the beauty of the Aletsch region." Delighted Mario Braide, CEO Matterhorn Region.
According to Schweiz am Wochenende, Braide is one of the most profound Asia experts in Valais tourism. Ten years ago, he was sent to Asia to herald a turnaround in declining overnight payments in the summer. Today, tour groups from China, Taiwan and Korea are among the region's most important customers. They rely on them especially in the shoulder season, says hotelier Art Furrer. 6,000 to 8,000 overnight stays are booked by Asian guests at Furrer's hotels each year - making year-round operation possible.
While today it is mainly group tours that move on after one night, the Valais hopes to be able to welcome more individual tourists from China in the future. We want to define ourselves by quality, not quantity, says Braide. It's not about filling beds at dumping prices in the short term, but about sustainable development. (hae)
