Switzerland Tourism (ST) has achieved the most successful marketing campaign in its history with the worldwide campaign for train travel. For the third time in a row, the focus is on ST’s global brand ambassador, Roger Federer. He can be seen alongside comedian Trevor Noah. To date, the video has been viewed over 82 million times. With a 59% increase in Swiss Travel Passes (STP) sold compared to the same period last year, a new record was set for rail tickets for international guests as part of a promotion.

The latest ST campaign was rolled out worldwide, with a focus on the source markets USA, India, Korea, Southeast Asia, Greater China, the United Kingdom and Germany. The campaign promoted Switzerland and its “Grand Train Tour of Switzerland”, which is best experienced with the Swiss Travel Pass (STP). This acts as a general holiday pass on the Swiss public transport network for international guests. The sales figures reflected the focus of the campaign: The top three markets in terms of sales are the USA, followed by India and finally Korea. Even if the success of the previous year (“No one upstages the Grand Tour of Switzerland”, 102 million views within one year) could not yet be matched in terms of YouTube views in the first two months, the Chief Marketing Officer of ST and Switzerland’s “Advertiser of the Year” 2023, André Hefti, is satisfied: “Through compelling storytelling, we convinced people to watch almost four minutes of images of beautiful Switzerland. That’s world-class!”. The film received overwhelming feedback both nationally and internationally: 99% of the comments are positive.

Platform-specific storyline 

A new feature of the campaign was the platform-specific, tailor-made storyline on TikTok. The content, designed by the Zurich-based Wirz Group, drew attention to the topic of rail travel in a humorous way and thus generated initial attention even before the launch. Wirz, led by Livio Dainese, CO-CEO and “Advertiser of the Year” 2018, was responsible for the campaign idea with ambassador Roger Federer for the third time. The social media measures were flanked at an international level by a competition, which was very well received. Participants could win a trip to Switzerland and a trip on the “Grand Train Tour of Switzerland”. The competition generated six-figure leads. Sir Mary, an agency also based in Zurich, was responsible for the distribution of the campaign. The third film with Roger Federer was a new venture with the unconventional approach of using only the video platform YouTube for the distribution of the clip, where it was shown in its entirety. The cooperation with the two agencies led to the desired result for ST. CEO Martin Nydegger: “We are very satisfied with how the campaign performed. The fact that Switzerland is not only a compact country with incomparable nature and culture, it also offers modern and sustainable travel options strikes a chord with our guests. Our campaign does this in an entertaining way – and very successfully”. The basis of this very success was once again the close and positive cooperation with Roger Federer and – in this case – Trevor Noah.

Swiss Travel Pass: Best-selling weekend since its inception 

The sales of the Swiss Travel Pass (STP), which was advertised internationally in the campaign, made it possible to directly measure the effectiveness of an ST campaign for the first time. The last three days of the campaign alone generated sales in the mid-single-digit millions, making them the three best-selling days since the STP was launched. Andreas Niederhauser, Head of Marketing Coordination at Swiss Travel System AG (STS), comments: “The promotion in cooperation with ST further fuelled the current trend towards rail travel. This is reflected in the figures of the most successful campaign ever for us, which of course pleases us immeasurably”. Remarkably, three-quarters of the future guests state that they would like to start their journey in the next three months, which is untypical, especially for the STP’s strongest sales markets USA, India and Korea. The promotion thus triggered an immediate desire to travel, as guests from long-haul markets traditionally have a longer lead time in their travel planning.

The “Grand Train Tour of Switzerland” at a glance: 

Film «I need the ride of a lifetime» (YouTube)

Imagery (© Switzerland Tourism):

Further Information:

Switzerland Tourism (ST)

ST is a federal corporation under public law tasked with promoting domestic and international demand for Switzerland as a holiday, travel, and congress destination. The development and implementation of marketing programmes to generate demand and profile Switzerland’s strong, classic-modern tourism brand, both nationally and internationally, make up its core activities. ST works in close collaboration with the Swiss tourism industry, which contributes about half of its budget. The other half comes from federal funds. The organisation works in a customer- and market-oriented manner and is managed according to business management criteria.

Worldwide, ST is present in 23 markets with around 279 employees (255 FTEs) spread over 35 offices.

Swiss Travel System AG (STS)

Swiss Travel System AG in Zurich is a marketing company founded in 2011 by SBB, Switzerland Tourism and five Swiss public transport companies. Its mission is to bundle and specifically manage the marketing of Switzerland’s public transport abroad. Its core tasks include the worldwide marketing of national transport and the incoming ticket range as well as the promotion of cross-border transport from neighbouring countries.

For more information, please contact: 

Markus Berger, Head of Corporate Communication

Phone: +41 (0)44 288 12 70, E-mail: markus.berger@switzerland.com

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