Online goes offline - and to the guests: unusual Swiss marketing in the Benelux countries
Significantly more visitors from the Benelux countries are coming to Switzerland this year. Switzerland Tourism (ST) Benelux is taking a creative approach to tourism promotion: Pop-up galleries in Dutch and Belgian train stations are currently drawing visitors with Instagram photos from Switzerland.
Four of the best Instagram photographers from Belgium and the Netherlands were invited to Switzerland by ST and numerous partners. These influencers reach over 1.2 million contacts via their social media channels. The results of their travels are impressive pictures, videos and enthusiastic posts about Switzerland as a vacation destination in all seasons. First online as usual - but the best snapshots are now also visible "offline" in a pop-up gallery at the train stations in Utrecht in the Netherlands and Antwerp in Belgium.
Liking and sharing - digital and analog
From 12 to 15 October 2017, ST and its partners surprised passengers at Utrecht station, the largest public transport hub in the Netherlands, with an exhibition of Instagram images of Switzerland. Fascinated passers-by took the opportunity to like the pictures "for real" at the touch of a button and share them via analog postcard. Two artists created live paintings of the Instagram photos on site. The enthusiasm for vacations in Switzerland is awakened here in a surprising and novel way, creatively combining digital and analog channels. The exhibition will move to Antwerp in Belgium next week, where the pictures will be on display from October 19 to 21, 2017.
Upswing from Benelux
The Benelux market is recovering, with hotel overnight stays by Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg guests increasing significantly between January and August 2017 after many years of decline (over one million overnight stays, +8.8% compared to the same period last year). Not least thanks to creative local marketing activities, tourists from this important market for Swiss tourism are once again becoming enthusiastic about vacationing in Switzerland.
