1.5 million more for Graubünden tourism
The Graubünden government has granted the Graubünden Holiday Association 1.5 million francs more per year. This is to be used to promote the vacation destination of Graubünden nationally and internationally. A smaller amount will also go toward a new project position for sustainability.
The Graubünden Ferien association is the canton's tourism marketing organization. The government has now renewed the organization's performance mandate for the years 2023-2026. The association will receive a total of CHF 7.5 million per year - CHF 1.5 million more than before.
A quarter of a million Swiss francs will be invested in a project to raise awareness of the vacation destination in French-speaking Switzerland. Another quarter of a million francs will be invested in sustainability. This is increasingly a guest need and represents an opportunity to design offers and differentiate from competitors, explained Martin Vincenz, CEO of Graubünden Ferien, on Thursday in response to a question from the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The intention was to participate nationally in this topic and to provide information for Graubünden tourism. Specifically, this involves cooperation with the Competence Center Sustainability of the Swiss Tourism Federation, collaboration in the development of a tourism monitoring system and its provision for service providers in the canton.
Ultimate goal: More guests
However, the association's primary goal - as it reads on its website - is to bring more guests to Graubünden. Graubünden Holidays, for example, plans to spend one million Swiss francs a year on advertising in the Gulf States, Asia and the USA for "the natural metropolis of the Alps".
The aim is to increase capacity utilization in the Graubünden hotel industry and diversify the guest structure, Vincenz added. This would make them better equipped to withstand economic and currency fluctuations.
Comparatively few guests from these markets are currently present in Graubünden. The potential, however, is great. In 2019 - before the Corona pandemic - the share of long-distance visitors from the Gulf States, China and the USA was 3.8 percent. The Swiss average was 13.1 percent.
For a sustainable orientation of the "distant markets initiative", Graubünden Ferien would support all efforts of the partners and associations to make tourism more sustainable. In addition, the aim is to "whet people's appetite for vacations in idyllic and unspoilt Graubünden villages". The new sustainability office is intended to help with these efforts. (SDA)
