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Switzerland
is very proactive in promoting their tourism in India. And
the results are apparent in the number of Indians flocking
to Switzerland and the number of Swiss delegations coming
to India
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| Rabindra
Seth |
Switzerland
is one European country which has a focused, industry-co-ordinated
and consistent promotional programme for India. For several
successive years, large delegations representing almost every
segment of the hospitality sector plus the famous chocolate
and watch makers conduct road shows in Delhi and other metros
with a certain regularity. Switzerland has another advantage.
Its ambassador, Dr Walter Gyser has earned the reputation
of being the most tourism-friendly diplomat in the Indian
capital. He occupies centrestage in the promotional blitz
and often manages to give it even an Indian touch. In the
latest exercise on January 13, the media were treated to slick
presentations on the various Swiss attractions from mountains
to resorts and world class cities like Geneva and Zurich along
with live traditional mountain music. This was followed by
a lavish dinner which was joined in by leaders of the Indian
travel industry in celebration of Lohri, the north Indian
festival marking the peak of the winter season.
This year’s presentation had an unusual addition to Swiss
allurements - a new dimension to tourism aimed at 8- to 18-year-old
school children to enable them to become self-reliant and
independent. This is done through experimental learning techniques
which combine adventure sports activities, recreational, educational
and social interaction between international students. The
man who thought of this kind of student tourism, Phillipe
Stettler, was part of this year’s delegation. He says
that way back in 1987 as a school teacher in Lausanne he thought
of an “extended arm for educating children in a fun way”
and made a beginning soon afterwards with the first group
of international participants in a makeshift camp in the small
town of Verbier less than two hours drive from Geneva. Verbier,
because of its location has the advantage of being suitable
both for summer and winter adventure sports. The programme
was a runaway success and by 1993 he had built special chalets
for students who started arriving in larger numbers.
A young Indian housewife with entrepreneurial urges, Bibirani
Nangia heard of this programme which was then being marketed
as Les Elfes international summer and winter camps at the
Delhi golf course in 1996. Remembering her own mundane school
trips, the thought that children could have a productive holiday
experience excited her. What spurred her into action was that
this programme would also give Indian children the opportunity
to interact with students from other parts of the world. In
the very first effort she managed to gather ten students and
off she went to Verbier and returned with a happy experience.
In 2002 she handled more than 300 students both for the summer
and winter tours. And, she is so upbeat about the potential
of this student tourism that last year year she extended her
operation to Australia. Her first group was as large as 60
students and the places covered included Sydney, Cairns and
Byron Bay. Nangia says that at Verbier language conversation
courses are part of the activities. The average cost of the
programme for a week is $900 and for 15 days $2000. Airfares
are extra. The adventure activities cover skiing, bridge-swinging,
parasailing, sea kayake and surfing. There are also team building
activities. Those opting for the 15-day programme also make
trips to France and Italy. Bibirani Nangia can be contacted
on email: leselfes@dishnetdsl.net.
To come back to Swiss tourism, a century of just over 7 million
people, Switzerland hosts 17 million visitors. In spite of
9/11, it has had a sizeable increase from India. The number
of tourist from this country is said to have crossed the 200,000
mark in 2002 representing an eight per cent increase over
the previous year. Indians, although they constitute less
than one per cent of the total arrivals, are among the highest
spenders. Gujaratis form the largest chunk of the Indian segment.
Ambassador Gyser denied that Switzerland had lost its sheen
for Indian film makers who reportedly was heading for other
destinations in Europe. If anything, he said, more film makers
are preferring his country in spite of tough competition,
largely because of the one window access to all their needs.
The ambassador provided a lighter touch to the serious tourism
business when he said that like chocolates and watches the
Swiss cow is also a popular sight. He said, “Like the
people of India, we are also proud of our cows. We also decorate
them at festivals.” There is much Indian promoters can
learn from the Swiss on how to promote tourism.
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