Both from a tourism and a publicity point of view, Switzerland Tourism ST’s Cities campaign was a complete success. In 11 cities from Basel to Bellinzona and from St. Gallen to Vevey, visitors were able to stay at pop-up hotels during the summer months. A total of 1,251 guests took advantage of this unique opportunity to stay at one of the hotels, which each had just one pop-up room.

As the name “pop-up” suggests, the rooms were available for a limited time only and in places you would not normally get to go – certainly not to sleep, in any case. Nine in every ten guests were from Switzerland, and many were from the same town where the pop-up hotel was located: “As a child I often played with other children near the Krummturm. Now I’ve been enjoyed having the place just for me and my wife,” said a guest who stayed at the Solothurn pop-up hotel. Many of the offers were completely booked out soon after becoming available, with rooms in Basel going fastest. Thanks to this great success, nine of the pop-ups extended their availability.

Great interest

The concept also attracted a lot of media coverage, with reports in the national and international media, including the French-speaking Swiss TV channel RTS Info, Ticino TV channel RSI and the German-speaking Swiss TV programme Glanz & Gloria. The level of interest was reflected in over 70 million media contacts.

The pop-up hotels met the requirements of the city traveller segment. These guests want to discover hidden gems and experience the way locals live. It was also an opportunity for Swiss cities to show a new, modern and surprising side to those who ventured off the beaten track. The project was carried out in conjunction with 11 cities and with the hotels that ran the pop-ups.