The new app for the Grand Tour of Switzerland explained briefly in the video.

In 2022, Switzerland Tourism ST’s activities were all about touring. The Grand Tour of Switzerland – the number one alpine road trip – played the leading role as a product of Swiss tourism that has already been established for many years and enjoys popularity worldwide.

Until now, potential guests of the Grand Tour of Switzerland were able to access a virtual tour as well as a website online – both tools that have a strong focus on inspiration as well as awareness. But when it comes to planning and actual driving – while on the road, in other words – there have only been limited options available so far. Touring guests could access information during their road trip either by going online or using the printed Grand Tour travel guide.

Thanks to the new app, travellers can now get inspiration and plan the Grand Tour according to their individual needs while on the go. The app also includes precise navigation assistance, ensuring travellers don’t miss a single highlight along the Grand Tour. By the end of 2022, the app had been downloaded 45,000 times.

Now with NFT technology

To make the app’s “all in one” approach even more holistic, and also to inspire even more guests to take on the Grand Tour in an entertaining manner, the app lets them grab NFT-based collectibles along the route. In a first step, since summer 2022, it has been possible to compile and collect the photo spots along the Grand Tour of Switzerland in a personal album. This works with “Augmented Reality View” digitally and directly on site. This new, playful element is based on NFT (“Non-Fungible Token”) technology, which refers to “unique, indivisible and verifiable” virtual objects based on blockchain. This was thus ST’s first pioneering step into the metaverse. “With this expansion of the app, we are not only offering our guests a new kind of experience, but also laying the foundation for further exciting applications by fusing the real and virtual worlds. The aim is to create an additional incentive to discover lesser-known places along the Grand Tour,” said Stefan Künzle, Head of Digital Management and member of the ST Executive Board.

The new technology from ST is convincing: the app won gold in the prestigious “Best of Swiss Apps” award in the “Campaigns” category, for example, and additionally the award for the second-best app overall in 2022.