The figures achieved by the Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau (SCIB) in 2019 were again satisfactory: for the second year in a row, the number of meetings influenced by SCIB passed the 800 mark (2018: 824, 2019: 818). By focusing on the two themes of “Incentive Travel” and “Destination Weddings”, SCIB managed to garner additional interest in the meetings sector among the media at home and abroad. 

Facts and figures
Meetings   2019 2018
Budget CHF million 7.6 7.3
Share of total budget % 9.1 7.9
Tourism turnover CHF million 118.9 74.8
Visits to MySwitzerland.com/meetings   306,423 303,772
Overnights generated through KAM   357,062 224,665
Number of meetings, events & conferences   818 824
Number of quotation requests processed by SCIB   1,506 1,599

 

Incentive travel: turnover of CHF 19.98 million and around 170 media reports Jeunesse Global organised the biggest incentive trip in the history of Swiss tourism in 2019. The global company, which is based in Florida, accounted for around 60,000 hotel overnight stays in the off-peak season. Tourism turnover is estimated at CHF 19.98 million. Read the whole article.

Suggested reading

Economic performance influences the market mix in Switzerland. Different strategies are needed for the short-haul and long-haul markets, as well as for the domestic market.

Dream destination for weddings
The second key topic in the meetings sector for 2019 was “Destination weddings”. Tying the knot far from home is in vogue and the market is growing worldwide. For the first time, the experts from SCIB sought to attract couples interested in getting married abroad with specific Swiss wedding packages – with the new MySwitzerland.com/weddings platform and a fact-finding trip. The target markets are the UK, US, India, South East Asia, Greater China and the Gulf States. In 2019, there were eight “destination weddings” in Switzerland that involved SCIB. In addition, 27 offers were made by SCIB. Read the whole article.