Love to the late king lures Thai in Switzerland

In Thailand, there is this weekend a state of emergency. Maha Vajiralongkorn was yesterday crowned officially as king Rama X.. It is the culmination of three days of festivities in the capital, Bangkok, and the first coronation in Thailand for seventy years. The last king of the country, Bhumibol, had passed away two and a half years, but out of respect for his father, who was loved by the people to idolatry, was waiting for Maha Vajiralongkorn with the coronation.

to feel, But also in Switzerland, you get the love of the people to the Bhumibol in the tourism industry. With the end of the national mourning in front of one and a half years, the Fans of the late king began to open and to walk in his footsteps – and there are many in Switzerland. For 18 years, Bhumibol has lived in Lausanne. He was only five years old when his mother with him in the Western Swiss town of drew. There he went to school and passed the Matura. Even as an adult, he always came back to Switzerland. In Lausanne Denantou Park on the shores of lake Geneva, is dedicated to him even a gazebo.

Bhumibol has expressed always positive about his Swiss years. Therefore, is the result of many Thais feel the need to see the king's beloved places in Switzerland. In Thailand, there are various deals for travel in the footsteps of the king of Switzerland. "You are enjoying great popularity," says Markus Berger, spokesman for the marketing organization of Switzerland tourism . The number of hotel nights spent by tourists from Thailand increased between 2017 and 2018 by 13 percent to 271'000.

The hospital where Bhumibol was,is to visit target

"We see a big increase in the number of tourists from Thailand," confirms Charlotte Bourquin of Lausanne tourism. The city offers guided tours on which travelers at ten places, which had for Bhumibol of particular importance. You see, for example, the school house, in which the king together with Swiss children was formed.

A little out of the ordinary friendly visit to target, the Clinique Cecil. In the hospital, which now belongs to the Hirslanden group, was Bhumibol treated after he was injured in 1949 in a car accident. With his Fiat Topolino was the king crashed into the car in one load. What makes the clinic for visitors even more interesting: There, Bhumibol met his wife Sikirit. The hospital is considered to be on the tours, however, only from the outside.

For the resurgent middle class will travel to Europe affordable

the number of Thai tourists is increasing in Switzerland so strong, is due to the fact that the inhabitants of the country can make traveling more and more. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country where this is so. The number of Overnight stays of travellers from the Region as a whole will rise continuously. Since 2013, the arrivals from Southeast Asia increased, according to Switzerland tourism, to almost 40 percent.

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Per capita in the world Singapore, even the highest share of Switzerland-traveler. In the case of the other countries in the Region, the number of tourists is growing rapidly. In Thailand and Malaysia has emerged in the past few years, a strong middle class that can afford to are increasingly travelling to Europe. The number of hotel nights spent by guests from Malaysia increased from 2017 to 2018, stronger than the Thai countries: 14 percent to 84'000. Indonesia is developed as an origin market, a little less far. "The country has a slightly smaller growth, but a great deal of potential," says Markus Berger.

In the case of Switzerland tourism you are happy about the increasing number of visitors from Southeast Asia also because of their travel behaviour. On the one hand, these guests travel from April to June and from September to December in Switzerland. Thus, the utilization of the Swiss Hotels can be optimized in time. On the other hand, the share of individual travellers – i.e. those that are not in tour groups is relatively high. In Thailand and Malaysia, for instance, it is 30 to 40 percent. "These guests are the longer, the more in the whole of Switzerland on the road and will also visit less known places," says Berger. As a result, the pressure on the tourist Hotspots of Switzerland would.

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(Sunday newspaper)

Created: 04.05.2019, 22:24 PM