Between 5 and 10 June 2021, Switzerland Tourism ST and its partners Ticino Turismo, Swiss International Air Lines and Swiss Travel System AG hosted the first in-person international event since the pandemic began. A select group of just under 30 influencers from Europe and beyond took up the invitation and travelled to the Switzerland Tourism Influencer Summit. This year’s venue was the Ticino region.

What was the percentage increase in hotel overnight stays in the Ticino region in 2021 compared with the pre-pandemic level in 2019?

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Ticino was one of two tourism regions that recorded more hotel overnight stays in 2021 than before the pandemic, with a jump of 26.3% compared with 2019. The other was Jura & Three-Lakes (+2.9%).

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700,000 Instagram likes for summer experiences

Switzerland is ready to welcome back foreign visitors was the message coming loud and clear from the summit, which the influencers largely spread via Instagram. Inspirational posts with the hashtag #inLOVEwithSWITZERLAND took Switzerland high up their followers’ travel bucket lists. The influencers in attendance have a combined Instagram following of 3.2 million, while many are also active on other channels such as TikTok and YouTube. The TikTok account @switzerland.holiday of Chinese expat Deshun Huang alone has 1.1 million followers.

What was the percentage increase in hotel overnight stays in the Ticino region in 2021 compared with the pre-pandemic level in 2019?

0 % 10 % 30 %

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Your answer is correct. right
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10 % 30 %

Ticino was one of two tourism regions that recorded more hotel overnight stays in 2021 than before the pandemic, with a jump of 26.3% compared with 2019. The other was Jura & Three-Lakes (+2.9%).

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The influencers posted over 160 times, 6.6% more than projected. These posts attracted nearly 700,000 likes and 30,000 comments. The content included Belgian Jonathan Kubben’s spectacular Luzzone dam climb (he also gave the keynote speech at the summit), and inspirational photos shot by the Brazilian Raquel Furtado. The total engagement rate was 4.1%, significantly higher than the 3.25% recorded at the previous Influencer Summit in 2020.

Perfect timing to kickstart tourism

The timing of the summit proved well-chosen by ST, as case numbers were falling and vaccination rates rising in the key tourism markets. For Angelo Trotta, Director of Ticino Turismo, the event was the ideal opportunity to present the canton to an international audience in all its diversity. As he explains, “Interest among international visitors for holidays in Switzerland is slowly rising again. As the host region, we and the whole of Switzerland were able to send out a strong message around the world through this summit: we are open for business!”

Comprehensive safety concept put in place

The influencers themselves were also very positive: “It feels good to finally be back in Switzerland and able to meet and talk face to face with people from different nations again,” said Jonathan Kubben, Influencer of the Year 2019. First-timer Thomas Christians from Germany declared, “Although the circumstances remain challenging, I am very impressed at how safety concepts and organisational guidelines enabled everything to run seamlessly.” Following the conference, the influencers explored Ticino and also went on excursions into the partner regions of Fribourg, Jura & Three-Lakes, the Lower Engadin and Winterthur.

Attracting visitors through targeted long-term social media management

The summit is part of ST’s influencer strategy, under which prestigious influencers specialise in certain topics. This year, for example, influencers associated with the themes of hideaway hotels, keeping Swiss traditions alive, enthusiasm for the outdoors and urban lifestyle were in attendance. The differentiation enables ST to specifically target niche segments and manage its social media presence with an eye to the long term. By having selected influencers highlight lesser-known destinations as well, ST helps to ensure that the dividends of tourism are shared more evenly.