The motto for Switzerland Tourism ST’s 2018 summer marketing campaign was: “Nature wants you back – on your bike.” The Tourism Monitor Switzerland (TMS) 2017shows that almost one in every five visitors goes cycling during their holiday in Switzerland. The aim in the future is to make the number even higher. This will benefit the Alpine region most of all, as nearly two-thirds of bike rides are made here.

Another finding from the TMS 2017 was that women make up an increasing number of cyclists. There are more or less equal numbers of women and men among touring cyclists and mountain bikers below the age of 34 visiting Switzerland. Touring cyclists and mountain bikers have very different needs – as do road cyclists and e-bikers. ST’s marketing team ran campaigns that were tailored to the needs of each of these four groups. This included giving each group its own landing page (such as this one for mountain biking) showing the specific offers available for the specific type of cycling.

Quiz

Guests from Switzerland, Germany and the Benelux countries are those who most often indicated that they cycle in the Swiss mountains in summer. How high is the share of Swiss guests who go cycling??

0 % 50 % 100 %

Move the slider to the correct position. Show result

Your answer is correct. right
Your answer is nearly correct. right
Your answer is incorrect. wrong
right wrong
50 % 100 %

According to TMS 2017, 70.1% of all guests who cycle in the Alpine region during the summer months come from Switzerland. Germany ranks second with 11.1%, followed by the Benelux countries with 5.1%.

Repeat the quiz

“Noticeably more cyclists”

The campaign – along with an extra boost from the warm, dry weather – helped to ensure a successful summer for Switzerland Tourism: from May to August 2018, the Federal Statistical Office recorded a total increase of 3.6% (or more than 530,000 additional ON). These included many guests who were cyclists, as shown by a survey carried out in the sector: Raoul Calame, for instance, who is CEO of Aletsch Arena, reported “noticeably more cyclists”. Andreas Züllig, who is President of hotelleriesuisse and jointly runs the Hotel Schweizerhof in Lenzerheide, said: “Cycling, hiking and visiting the mountains as a family remains a growth market. The domestic market is particularly strong in this respect.” This is also reflected in the number of bicycle rentals, with the company Rent a Bike reporting growth of up to 8%.

ST wants to establish Switzerland as a destination with a wide offering for cyclists. For instance, working together with Eurotrek, it has developed nine new bike routes suitable for touring bikes, mountain bikes, road bikes and even e-bikes. Eurotrek recorded 85 bookings, with Swiss visitors accounting for 60% of the total.

And for cyclists who love the mountains, ST launched the “Coop Ride the Alps” series, consisting of individual events that brought a lot of added value to the destinations involved, as the final balanceshows.

Facts and figures
Summer   2018 2017
Budget CHF million 39.8 46
Share of total budget % 43.2 49.1
Target markets   global global
Page views MySwitzerland.com* million 2.7
Top advertising and marketing contacts billion 1.6
Media contacts (readers, viewers, listeners) billion 8.5 5.4
Participants on ST press trips   1,146 1,182 
Top Media Articles   1,633
Views summer clip on YouTube million 17.5 11
Overnight stays influenced by KAM million 2.9 2.9
*Only views to pages with specific content for the summer campaign are counted.