Swiss Tourism makes Ranveer Singh its brand ambassador

Bollywood has a long legacy in Switzerland. From Raj Kapoor to Shah Rukh Khan, superstars of Hindi cinema have been featured in the high peaked mountains, green hilly pastures and the electric blue sky of Switzerland. In fact, Yash Chopra had shot most of his romantic moves in the Alpine nation, making it a visual treat for most of aspirational Indians. In an interesting move, Switzerland Tourism has roped in actor

Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador. The tourism board doesn’t have a brand ambassador in other countries. However, they do have a few film stars and pop stars in China and South Korea as "Friends of Switzerland" who promote Switzerland in their countries. Singh has currently signed a contract for a year and will feature in a brand campaign that will kickstart in January 2017.

Commenting on the development, Ritu Sharma, deputy director, Switzerland Tourism India, says, “Since the image of Switzerland as a romantic destination was created by Bollywood, it makes sense that we use a Bollywood star to introduce the other lesser known aspects of Switzerland to Indians. Being a versatile, energetic and adventurous personality, Ranveer Singh is the perfect spokesperson to showcase what a fun packed holiday experience Switzerland is."

Sharma informs that Indians spent approximately 600,000 overnights in hotels and 200,000 overnights in serviced apartments in Switzerland last year. The year-to-year growth was 22 % from 2014 to 2015. The focus of this marketing initiative is to first promote the well-known destination like Zurich, Lucerne, Titlis Engelberg and Interlaken with a different flavour and talk about newer destinations like St. Moritz in the second phase.

She adds, “Today in most surveys and popular awards, Switzerland wins hands down as the destination that Indians want to visit for its scenic beauty and romance. However, we now want to showcase other facets of Switzerland as well, the great outdoors with many possibilities for adventure sports, the boutique cities which are just 10 minutes away from the mountains but have great nightlife and restaurants as well, and the Swiss winter which is not only for skiers but for everyone to enjoy.”

Swiss Tourism will be spending more than half of its marketing budget on this particular five months campaign in India. As a part of the marketing mix, the board will focus on involving its travel trade partners, key media management, e-marketing campaigns and social media promotions.

Swiss Tourism makes Ranveer Singh its brand ambassador