Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
Switzerland is casting its eye on international travel-loving Chinese
tourists, as the country's tourism bureau announced here over the weekend a new
self-service travel package for local travelers.
The package is a five-day
tour priced between 12,000 yuan (US$1,451) and 14,000 yuan, the Oriental Morning
Post said. It only takes three days to process the visa, according to a
senior ST official.
Upbeat about Chinese travelers' enthusiastic response
since last year when Switzerland opened to them, ST expects the number of
Chinese visitors to the European county to increase fourfold from 120,000 in the
past year to an annual 600,000 in ten years, ST president Juerg Schimid said.
"If so, China will probably contribute an annual US$280 million in tourism
revenue to Switzerland," he added, citing ST data which indicates that each
Chinese traveler spends 3,000 yuan per day during their visit.
To achieve the
target, ST has launched a ten-year promotion program, Schimid revealed.
Part
of the program is the investment of 3 million yuan to build an exhibition hall
in south China's Lijang city which showcases Switzerland and its
attractions.
The hall, which opened last Wednesday, is expected to
become a new tourist highlight in Yunnan Province for the millions of travelers
there each year.
The self-service package is another part of the program,
Schimid noted. ST will also open an online training system in November to
help Chinese travelers prepare for their Swiss trips.
As for the current
absence of direct flights between China and Switzerland, which makes the trip
inconvenient, the president said Lufthansa is in the process of starting just
such a service and he expects a good result soon.
Germany's Lufthansa
acquired Swissair, formerly Switzerland's national carrier, in 2003.