A new lobbying and sales event, 'theALPS', taking place in Innsbruck in September was focused on the promotion of the Alpine region.
About 300 tourism organizations met at ‘theALPS’, a lobbying and sales event in Innsbruck at the end of September 2010. The aim of the event was to support the tourism in Alpine region in the international competition. However, it is interesting that Swiss Tourism was not among the participants. Jürg Schmid, the director of Swiss Tourism, explained that they already have enough projects and visitors and they do not want to waste financial resources.
However, Urs Zenhäusern, the director of the Wallis Tourism, was not satisfied with the decision. He was also the only member of the Swiss Tourism who got involved in the event. He was motivated by the fact that such an event could bring new business opportunities to the region. It was also a good occasion to advertise the area among new tourists.
Another reason for Zenhäusern’s decision is that the Swiss Travel Market, another event that helps support Alpine region, does not take place until the end of the winter season and promoting mountain areas at the end of the winter season is pointless as the snow is already melting and many stations are closed.
The director of the Swiss Tourism Market cannot also imagine holding such a big event in one of the mountain villages. He admits that the timing at the beginning of May is a little inconvenient. But to separate the city and the country is not a good solution either as the aim of such events is to show the flexibility. The next Swiss Tourism Market takes place in Genf in 2011 and the first sales event of ‘theALPS’ will be held on the 6th and 7th June. Both events will help to promote the Wallis canton.