The tourism industry in central Switzerland could benefit from increased efforts to focus on individual holidaymakers from China, according to a study.
A report by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and ArtsExternal link found that guests from China travelling individually in Europe take a special interest in culinary events and that they are likely to receive information about new offers via their mobile phones.
The study appears to confirm previous research by Switzerland Tourism that there is huge potential to attract more Chinese guests interested in skiing or in arts.
However, the study recommends the tourist boards in central Swiss regions continue to cater for Chinese tourists travelling in groups.
Both segments were keen on spending some time in the mountains, visiting tourist attractions as well as shopping.
The city of Lucerne and its nearby mountains, including the Titlis, have recorded a 450% increase in the number of overnight stays of guests from China over the past decade, according to the authors of the study which was published on Tuesday.
In 2018, about a million Chinese tourists travelled to Switzerland. This compares with the 6.2 million who visited other European countries.
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The Chinese imagine the Swiss as people who like watches, geraniums and bears and enjoy eating chocolate as well as travelling on steam trains. That's the caricature presented by the Bernese Oberland tourist destination of Interlaken.
And that destination has been re-created in a section of a Chinese theme park near the booming city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, which lies just across the river from Hong Kong.
The "miniature Interlaken" was opened in 2007 and consists of several streets with stores, a train station and a replica of the Hotel Victoria Jungfrau. The houses are a mix of styles from the Tirol, Engadin and Schwarzwald regions, and watches or bears bearing the Chinese, Swiss or Bernese flags are ubiquitous.
Chinese tourists can have their pictures taken on the "Interlaken bridge," a copy of the famous Kappelbrücke in Lucerne. Bagpipers appear, along with a clown that performs to the tunes of Swiss pop star DJ Bobo.
The Interlaken replica is also good advertising for the real place in the Bernese Oberland and a good alternative to expensive trips abroad for the Chinese.
(Photos: Simon Tanner, Keystone)
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