Geneva, according to the ‘Foundation Geneva Tourism and Conventions’ (FGT&C) is “A world of its own”. When one looks at the appeal of Geneva as a destination through the eyes of Philippe Vignon, Managing Director of FGT&C, it is not difficult to understand why this is so.
The destination’s Unique Selling Points
As the crossroads to peace and international respect, Geneva also enjoys worldwide recognition as the watch making capital of the world. Yet it does not end there. Outstanding landscapes coupled with an unparalleled quality of life, its status as a unique shopping destination, not to mention it being a city boasting a handful of the world’s best hotels are but a few of Geneva’s advantages. Tourism is clearly a vital element of the local economy. Moreover, with 40% of the population coming from abroad, Geneva’s multiculturalism makes it a “global city”, further adding to the destination’s appeal.
Although these are certainly unique selling points for Geneva, the list goes on (one could say it is almost an endless list). Geneva has long prided itself on its discretion and respect for private life, making it an ideal location for the rich and famous to escape the constant glare of the public eye, while at the same time being able to enjoy the freedom of public life.
What does the FGT&C do?
The ‘Foundation Geneva Tourism and Conventions’ (FGT&C) is a non-profit organization funded by the state of Geneva. With a team of 45 dedicated professionals, the FGT&C is tasked with marketing and promoting Geneva as a premier destination not only for tourists, but also for business events and conventions. With a CHF 15 million annual budget, FGT&C is headed by Phillipe Vignon, a veteran of the tourism industry.
FGT&C has three main functions. Namely, to promote and sell Geneva as a tourist, leisure and business destination; to welcome and inform tourists and visitors (through its dedicated welcome centres); and to bring Geneva to life by organizing events such as the “Fêtes de Genève”, for which it has full responsibility.
The Foundation is also responsible for promoting the city as a premier location to hold trade conventions such as EBACE, which was held earlier this year at the Palexpo convention centre (see EBACE: Europe’s Premier Business Aviation Event). Its role is not only to promote the city, but also to assist event organizers in the logistics of their event. Such events provide the city with a key revenue flow and it is therefore important to attract repeat visits by events like EBACE. FGT&C is also in continuous discussions with event organizers from around the world to attract new events to the city. For example, SIBOS (the world’s premier financial services event), has chosen Geneva to hold its annual conference in 2016. This flagship event brings some 7000 decision makers and financial experts together to discuss pressing issues surrounding the financial industry. This puts Geneva on a par with other major financial centres, such as Dubai and Singapore.
Developing the right workforce
Benefiting from Switzerland’s world class hotel schools as well as dedicated tourism schools (such as the Haute Ecole de Gestion & Tourisme in Sierre), Geneva is able to enjoy a workforce that is highly trained to specifically cater to the needs of the tourism industry. However, FGT&C recognizes the complexity of the industry in that it also demands the skills of professionals from many other sectors, not just tourism. For example, in today’s increasingly interconnected world, marketing and communication via social media platforms has become ever more important, meaning that marketing experts are required, with or without a background in tourism. At the same time, FGT&C’s human resources department is ever present in universities and career fairs to encourage young professionals to pursue a career in the industry.
In addition, FGT&C offers 6-7 internship positions to help people with an interest in tourism discover what the industry is all about. This provides FGT&C with a perfect platform to helpbuild a tailor made workforce able to address the specific needs and challenges of Geneva’s unique tourism industry.
Tourism as a key driver to local industry
While tourism might not be the number one industry in the region, its importance cannot be underestimated. Accounting for 2.5% of GDP in the canton and employing 18000 people, it has another key role as a marketing and promotional tool for other industries in the region that are higher up the political agenda. Geneva’s prized watch making industry is known worldwide. Tourism can claim its part in that success as it has used the watch industry as a promotional tool. In other words, both industries complement each other.
Future growth
No economic activity is without its limitations and tourism is certainly no exemption to that in Geneva. Space is a serious issue in the city. As with the lack of housing, hotels are similarly limited in the number of rooms available and this brings about challenges to the industry, particularly during peak seasons. With the city boundaries already hit, there is little or no room available for new hotel development, explains Vignon.
But it is not the role of FGT&C to set out future development strategies for the tourism industry. As a foundation, it concentrates on promoting and raising awareness of what is currently available in Geneva. Its passion - and quite rightly so - is to promote the city’s attractions and bring them to an ever wider audience. Tourism is now a global industry making promotional aspects much more complex. Decision makers, whether congress organizers or potential tourists, are able to make decisions much more quickly when choosing one destination over another.
With Geneva systematically ranking as one of the world’s top cities to live in, it certainly has a lot to offer to visitors. With all its unique qualities on offer for leisure and business travellers, Geneva truly is “A world of its own”.
