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The global Covid-19 pandemic meant that major trips were off the agenda in spring 2020. By the summer, the urge to be outdoors following the lockdown was therefore greater than ever. Many people were reminded how relaxing it can be to spend time in Switzerland’s great outdoors. One of the joys of Switzerland as a holiday and travel destination is that the natural world is never far away, even in cities. The 2020 summer campaign capitalised on this, and the new umbrella campaign was rolled out for the first time. It focused on the emotional benefits of holidaying and travelling in Switzerland, as evidenced by the slogan “I need Switzerland.”
In the 2020 summer campaign, Switzerland Tourism ST also drew attention to some unforgettable forms of accommodation in the country, where visitors can really get close to nature. One highlight of these communication was the Million Stars Hotel project, which showed Switzerland in a new and surprising light.
In conjunction with accommodation partners from across Switzerland, ST ran time-limited offers on around 50 exceptional hotel rooms. The common thread running through all these “rooms” is that they offer an unimpeded view of the stars from the comfort of one’s bed, be that amid nature or in cities with spectacular views.
Sales of over half a million francs
All 50 or so hotel rooms were easily bookable via a central page, MySwitzerland.com/millionstarshotel. The accommodation providers were not charged any fees for this service. Bookings could also be made directly with the individual providers. A survey of all the providers found that total revenue of around CHF 540,000 was generated, around half of this via the central Switzerland Travel Centre (STC) booking channel and the rest through direct bookings. All the providers surveyed were also extremely satisfied with the support from and organisation by ST (average of 8.21 on a scale from 1 to 10).
Revenues for less-known locations too
ST’s vision is for great prosperity across the country. That fed into the Million Stars Hotel campaign: it put locations such as Herisau, Oberhelfenschwil, Schneisingen, Aquila and La Ferrière on the tourist map, enabling hotel overnight stays and value creation to be generated. The federal state’s support programme, the New Regional Policy (NRP), also contributed to this nationwide prosperity through financial assistance for individual room projects for the Million Stars Hotel in mountain regions.
Great national and international media resonance
The project attracted a lot of interest in the media: leading Swiss media in all language regions ran items on the project, including 20 Minuten, Blick, Tages-Anzeiger, RSI, 24 heures and Le Nouvelliste. There was also good coverage in the regional media, for example Tele Züri, Solothurner Zeitung and Tribune de Genève. In all, there were 222 media stories on the project, generating nearly 95 million media contacts. This included 15 international articles (e.g. Stern and Forbes), even though massive travel restrictions were in place in some cases. The large interest outside Switzerland was due partly to ST stating from the outset that the project would be continued in summer 2021. It is therefore a good example of how Switzerland can retain a place in international guests’ hearts and minds as a holiday and travel destination.
Facts and figures
Summer | 2020 | 2019 | |
Budget | CHF million | 40,8* | 41,9 |
Share of total budget | % | 49,5 | 49,9 |
Target markets | global | global | |
Page views of MySwitzerland.com** | million | 8,0 | 4,9 |
Top advertising and marketing contacts | billion | 1,3 | 1,6 |
Media contacts (readers, viewers, listeners) | billion | 5,6 | 7,3 |
Participants in ST press trips | 299 | 1,021 | |
Top media articles influenced | 1,673 | 1,795 | |
Views of summer clip on YouTube | million | – | 7,3 |
Overnight stays generated through KAM | million | 0,6 | 2,9 |
* Including recovery funds.
**Only views of pages with specific summer campaign content are counted.