Market Manager Jean Kim explains the Korean Swiss Friend strategy in an interview with Schweiz aktuell (contribution via picture link).

In Korea, Switzerland is becoming increasingly popular as a travel destination, with the number of hotel overnight stays increasing by 66% from 2014 to 2019 to a total of 440,000. To ensure that this encouraging trend picks up momentum after the pandemic, Switzerland Tourism ST is teaming up with a Korean celebrity: In 2022 and 2023, actress Lee Si-young will serve as a “Swiss Friend” and thus as a brand ambassador who will promote Switzerland as a holiday destination to the intended target groups. In her home country, the 40-year-old has become known for roles in dramas, films and TV shows – and even in Switzerland she can be seen in the Netflix series “Sweet Home.”

With 17.4 million followers on TikTok and 3.3 million on Instagram (as of October 2022), Lee Si-young appeals to a younger audience in a country with a particular affinity for the social media world and an interest in sports and healthy activities. This is a perfect fit to rekindle the desire to travel – because according to figures from the Switzerland Tourism Monitor (2017), 77% of Korean tourists are under 35 years old.

With charm and wit
The new brand ambassador visited Switzerland in January 2022 and immediately challenged ST CEO Martin Nydegger to a joint run through Zurich. The former professional boxer not only brings the action to fast-paced horror films, but also on her winter trip through Switzerland. In wittily staged TikTok films, she shows her first skiing attempts in Zermatt (1.3 million views), how she is wearing a robe and drinking a cup of coffee in St. Moritz skates (1.8 million) or performs a snow dance in Engelberg (2.0 million). The SRF programme “Schweiz aktuell” accompanied the Korean guest’s first visit and spoke with Martin Nydegger about important long-haul markets such as Korea.

In the summer of 2022, Lee Si-young returned to Switzerland, discovered Grindelwald (3.8 million), followed the footsteps of James Bond on the Schilthorn (1.9 million) and was a member of the longest women’s rope team in the world: 80 women from 25 countries climbed the Breithorn in Valais together on 17 June 2022.

“Swiss Friends” for greater visibility
In the Korean market, advertising with celebrities is very successful, especially from the popular K-pop and K-drama genres. ST’s field office has been working with “Swiss Friends” since 2003, such as the boy band Super Junior in 2015 or the girl band Red Velvet in 2019. Experience shows that such brand ambassadors generate up to 50% more media coverage of Switzerland as a holiday destination thanks to the collaboration. In all these years, not least because of this, an increase in hotel overnight stays by Korean guests of over 300% has been recorded.

It is important for tourism in Switzerland that international guests return after the pandemic has ended. They plan their trips for longer periods of time, including during the week or in the off-season, enabling many destinations to operate year-round in the first place. This helps to better utilise the tourist infrastructure and secure revenues, which in turn also benefits local guests.