New SWISS YYZ-ZRH flight taking off soon
ANN RUPPENSTEIN
Tourism to Switzerland is booming with the destination reporting that overnight stays from Canada increased by 13.1% compared to the record year of 2019. In total, overnight stays reached 312,000 from the Canadian market.
“While the most successful months continue to be the summer months from June to September, accounting for 49.2% of the overnight stays, September became the strongest travel month for the first time,” says Oliver Weibel, director Canada, Switzerland Tourism.
Some big news for clients looking to add a Switzerland adventure to their travel plans, Swiss International Air Lines will launch direct service from Toronto to Zurich on May 10.
“We’re going to fly five times a week, seasonal. We’re going to start on the tenth of May until October,” Brendan Shashoua, the outgoing head of sales Canada for Lufthansa Group, told Travel Courier. “The exciting thing is we’re bringing back First Class to Toronto so the configuration is First Class, Business Class and Economy.”
The flag carrier of Switzerland, which is a subsidiary of Lufthansa Group, will offer five flights a week (not on Mondays and Wednesdays) on an Airbus A330.
Ready for takeoff, representatives from SWISS and Switzerland Tourism held a suitcase party in Toronto in anticipation of the inaugural flight. Shashoua noted that load factors from the Canadian market are “really good, super strong.”
“We are more than happy,” he added. “It’s actually going better than some of the existing routes so it’s very, very promising. We hope when that continues to be able to eventually have it daily, to go to year-long service. We’re here to stay.”
The new eastbound service will leave Toronto at 16:35 and arrive in Zurich at 06:30 (local time) the following day. The westbound SWISS service will depart from Zurich at 09:55 and arrive in Toronto at 13:00.
The event also served as a chance to connect with Christina Meakin, who was recently promoted to the position of Head of Sales Canada for the Lufthansa Group. Meakin has relocated to Canada to take on the role and most recently served as Director Sales Northern Germany for Lufthansa Group.
Notably, Shashoua was recently appointed as the Senior Director Sales Southeast Asia and Pacific and will be relocating to Singapore.
“We are super proud to have the first female head of sales Canada for the Lufthansa Group, which is big news,” Shashoua said.
As for other Canadian travel insights, Switzerland Tourism highlighted that sales of the Swiss Travel Pass increased by over 179% from Canada compared to 2019, showcasing the interest in the train experience in Switzerland, especially for panoramic trains. According to TMS 2017, already 60% of Canadian guests choose the train as their main mode of transportation, underscoring the importance of the public transport network in Switzerland.
While tourism from Canada peaks during the summer, winter tourism is also experiencing growth, especially to destinations such as Zermatt and St. Moritz. Both are offered within the Ikon Pass and Andermatt and Crans-Montana (24/25 season) with the Epic Pass.
In addition to the soon-to-launch SWISS International Airlines from Toronto to Zurich, there will also be daily service between Vancouver and Zurich with Edelweiss during the extended season from May to October. Calgary (YYC) will benefit from up to three weekly flights from May to September.
The evening culminated with a raffle draw for a seven-day trip for two in business class on SWISS, as well as giveaways for Victorinox luggage and Accidentally Wes Anderson books with Laura Fairweather, media relations/project manager Canada and Central USA for Switzerland Tourism, announcing that a suitcase party isn’t complete without tickets to the destination.
“Canadians love Switzerland and we love taking Canadians to Switzerland,” she added.
