Switzerland holds tourism roadshow
gulf-times.com
SWITZERLAND Tourism has witnessed the most successful year and posted an annual growth of 14.1%, officials said in Doha.
A team of tourism and hotel officials from Switzerland was in Doha to promote the country.
Switzerland Tourism director Federico Sommaruga said there had been about 75,000 arrivals in Switzerland from the GCC countries between January and December 2006, which was more than what the Tourism Board had projected. Swiss Visas issued up to the end of 2006 showed an increase of 15% compared to the same period last year.
Within the GCC, Saudi Arabia, accounting for 287,739 overnights, was still the number one provider of overnights to Switzerland accounting for more than 50%, followed by Kuwait with a share of 18%. In 2006, Qatar had significantly increased its share to Switzerland to 7%.
“With steadily year-on-year growth, the GCC has firmly established itself as one of the key players among the emerging markets, alongside Russia, China and India. This reflects our commitment to the GCC market,” Sommaruga said.
“Even though the number of overnights spent by GCC residents in Switzerland is 1.5% of the total overnights spent by foreign nationals, almost 6.5% of the total marketing budget is invested in the GCC. Year 2007 will see an increase of budget in the GCC, at least by 10%,” he added.
“Switzerland Tourism, which started its GCC operation in 1999 with an office in Dubai, continued its promotional drives in the region with the six-city roadshow 'Switzerland Travel Experience’. The cities included Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Bahrain, Kuwait and Doha.
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published Mar 04, 2007
