More Indians visiting Switzerland after Ranveer Singh's appointment as brand ambassador: Claudio Zemp, Switzerland Tourism India

From Sangam to Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Bollywood's fascination with Switzerland has been well documented.

In order to build on that relationship, Switzerland's tourism board has once again appointed Ranveer Singh as their brand ambassador.

“In our last year’s campaign, Ranveer showcased the fun and adventurous side of Switzerland, whereas this time around we have highlighted one of Switzerland’s hidden gems - the Lake Geneva Region. It’s a bit more relaxed and focuses on the finer things of life such as gastronomy and wine, music, culture and romance,” said Claudio Zemp, director, Switzerland Tourism India.

Zemp spoke to Moneycontrol about the 'Bollywood effect' and the factors which draw Indians to the Alpine nation.

Excerpts:

Be it the 70s or now, a quintessential Bollywood romance is almost incomplete without a sequence shot in Switzerland. What is the kind of traffic you have seen from India and what role is Bollywood playing in it?

In the last ten years, we have seen 8.2 percent growth every year on an average in terms of Indians visiting Switzerland except for 2016, when we saw only about 1% because of some internal visa issues.

Thanks to Ranveer Singh, who came on board in August last year, we saw an immediate surge in travellers from India. There was a double digit month on month growth after August and that accumulated to a total growth of 23.4% in 2017 for us. We bank on our Bollywood connect and shall continue to do so in the future.

How do you plan to leverage Ranveer Singh to promote Swiss tourism?

Like I said, we saw an immediate surge in traffic after Ranveer came on board. So we extended the original contract of collaboration for one year to another year-and-a-half. While the Bollywood movies, especially those from Yash Raj Films, have glorified our locales, we felt the challenge was that the traditional Indian perception of Switzerland is just that of a family or a romantic holiday destination. We are promoting ourselves as an outdoor location where people can take up sky diving, parasailing and white water rafting. We are also popularising destinations that people don’t generally consider while in Switzerland like the Lake Geneva Region, which includes the cities of Montreux and Lausanne.

As the face of the brand, the infectious enthusiasm with which Ranveer shot the ad, would make everyone’s inner traveller want to plan a trip to Switzerland rightaway.

Our new campaign features Ranveer taking viewers through some of the most beautiful places to visit, be it Lausanne, Montreux, Château de Chillon, Lavaux Vineyards, Chaplin’s World, Olympic Museum, Queen’s Studio and Glacier 3000, among others. Ranveer is also seen soaking in the beauty and scenic views of the Swiss Riviera.

Furthermore, viewers can also catch a glimpse of the special ‘Ranveer on Tour’ train on the Golden Pass Line, now available for the world to hop on to. A special train was launched in Switzerland during his last trip as a tribute to his contribution to tourism promotion of Switzerland.

So what is the best time for Indians to visit Switzerland?

While Switzerland is a round the year destination, we are trying to promote autumn because it is one of the best times to be in our country.

What is the average number of nights people spend in Switzerland?Average time spent in Switzerland is generally between three and four days. Switzerland is always part of a bigger European holiday and the Indians prefer staying in and around Zurich, Lausanne or Interlaken. As for the money spent, Indians are the highest spenders in Switzerland after the Gulf countries and China, spending 310 Swiss Francs (Rs 21,200 approximately) per person per night. Until 2017, it was 240 Swiss Francs (Rs 16,412 approximately).

Indians always look for Indian food no matter where they travel. Does Switzerland have a good number of Indian restaurants?There are a lot of Indian restaurants and some of the travel companies travel with their own Indian chefs so that guests can get the food they want. We even have vegetarian restaurants but the new age travelers especially the millenials are looking at European food and wanting to experiment with it. Some guests tell the tour operators that they do not want any Indian food while on the trip.