A new experience was on offer to people in Boston, Montréal, New York City, Chicago and San Francisco last year, thanks to Switzerland Tourism ST. They were given the opportunity to use rental bikes from our partner Motivate, a bike-sharing provider with 1,500 rental stations in the target cities, free of charge. The aim of the campaign was to give locals and tourists the chance to experience the fun and advantages of cycling for a whole month. And of course, to awaken people’s interest in our summer and cities campaigns – with accompanying online and offline measures highlighting Switzerland’s wide range of cycling offers in both Alpine and urban areas.

100 journalists and travel agents came to the kickoff in San Francisco. The participating partners Lucerne-Lake Lucerne Region, BE! Tourism, STS/Rail Europe, SWISS, Gruyère, Victorinox and BMC also attended this successful event.

Quiz

Which Swiss tourism region recorded the most overnight stays from US guests?

  1. Zurich
  2. Lucerne-Lake Lucerne Region
  3. Bern
Your answer is correct. right
Your answer is nearly correct. right
Your answer is incorrect. wrong

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the Zurich Region recorded the most overnight hotel stays (603,271), followed by Bern (328,912) and the Lucerne-Lake Lucerne Region (327,035).

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380,000 rental bike journeys

ST’s free offer resulted in 380,000 trips on rental bikes with an ST design. ST distributed information brochures and giveaways from the strategic partners at 15 events. There was a postcard competition, and the campaign was also promoted on social media. Moreover, the North American media reported extensively on the free rental bike campaign.

All these measures ultimately generated 41.6 million contacts, significantly surpassing our goal of 30 million. Accordingly, the participating service partners were very satisfied. Katja Meyer from BE! Tourism concluded: “A great campaign – thank you to the entire team.”