“Take a right or take a left, you’ll end up in a perfect place,” sings Lausanne native Bastian Baker in his single “Jackpot” as he rides through picturesque landscapes on a Harley-Davidson and in a convertible.

Baker dedicated the song to the Grand Tour of Switzerland (GToS). During the pandemic, foreign travel became very difficult and cultural life ground to a halt. Like so many of his compatriots, Baker used the time to celebrate the feeling of freedom that comes with travelling in Switzerland. “Switzerland is a unique holiday destination. Last year I took the GToS and fell in love with our country all over again,” he enthuses.

A perfect partnership

The singer-songwriter began successfully drawing attention to the GToS on social media in summer 2020. It made perfect sense, then, to team up with the GToS association again when “Jackpot” came around. He worked with Switzerland Tourism to film the video for the song, which then formed the heart of the GToS summer campaign. Between the end of May and mid-July 2021, the association, supported by ST, thus advertised the perfect road trip for domestic tourists. The clip garnered two million views across all channels and a total of 19.6 million marketing contacts. The cooperation also attracted media interest, including from 20 Minuten, OneFM, the SRF programme Gesichter & Geschichten, Schweizer Illustrierte and L’illustré.

Grand Tour of Switzerland Association

The Grand Tour of Switzerland Association, founded in 2014, brought together parties with an interest in touring, ensured that the route was preserved and secured the funding for its maintenance and marketing. With touring in Switzerland now established as a tourism offering, the association was dissolved in 2021.