Alina (24) posts three pictures of herself on Instagram. Once in a casual summer dress. Once with a dramatic sky. And once in front of a steel blue backdrop. She laughs, the sunglasses have slipped down slightly, the handbag is perfectly draped, the toes stretched forward – for visually longer legs.
A direct hit for Switzerland Tourism. This one Alina picture with the perfectly draped handbag received over 5000 reactions on Instagram. The desire of their German supporters to go on a trip to Switzerland is awakened.
The 24-year-old, who still has the middle name Sophie on Instagram, has over 70,000 followers. With her following she can easily fill the Wankdorf Stadium twice. It stands for a new image of Switzerland, transported by new faces. Real people who have a large community online.
Digital shop window
Switzerland Tourism recently invited Alina and 26 other influencers to Ticino. It was the start of a Tour de Suisse, going 900 meters up to Lugano’s local mountain, Monte San Salvatore, then 200 meters down the steep walls of the Creux du Van in the Jura. In Winterthur ZH there was an urban lifestyle in old industrial halls. And in the Bündner Zuoz, wine with a mountain panorama was waiting for you.
Switzerland Tourism is increasingly relying on this form of marketing. Recently with Roger Federer (39) and Robert De Niro (77). Record: The video has been viewed 72.5 million times on the YouTube platform so far. The Swiss marketers say that it exceeds all expectations. Maintaining Switzerland’s digital shop window is important. Every sixth guest from abroad was inspired to travel to Switzerland by social media.
That is why more and more money from the 112 million franc marketing fund is flowing into social media campaigns. The result is a flood of images on all social channels. Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, WeChat. The influencers collected tens of thousands of hearts in total. They presented Switzerland in the best possible light.
You all love Switzerland
The image they convey: It goes far beyond the cliché. “Switzerland is more than chocolate, cheese and the Alps,” says the German influencer Alina. She praises the Mediterranean way of life in Ticino, the palm trees, the little bit of Italianità.
It looks similar with Raquel Furtado (32). But their audience speaks Portuguese. The young woman has over 380,000 followers on Instagram. That is almost five times as much as the city of Lucerne, where the 32-year-old lives. Her pictures show a modern Switzerland, shining sun, wind and a lot of joie de vivre. She writes in capital letters about Swiss wine: “Adoro” – I love it.
The Russian Sergey Sukhov is also impressed by the wine, a luxury wanderer, hedonist and Nespresso advertising face. His Instagram account has over 700,000 subscribers.
He too serves his audience in his mother tongue: Russian. He holds two glasses of Grisons red wine in his hand, one with Merlot and one with Pinot Noir. He swings his glasses, puts both on, in the background the mountain peak near Zuoz disappears into the clouds. The picture had 100,000 views and 7,000 comments. His yoga picture in front of a mountain lake panorama received 14,000 likes.
800 million francs benefit
With all influencers, a modern way of life meets rustic mountain idyll. They convey a young image of Switzerland. Sometimes also an adventurous one – for example the Dutchman Sjoerd Bracke (27). He captures a dramatic sunset in Ticino.
The orange spectacle is worth its weight in gold. An estimated 800 million francs wash strong social media moments into the coffers of the local hotels every year. At least.