Switzerland pitches 'quiet luxury' and slow travel at Seoul showcase

Switzerland has unveiled a tourism strategy that shifts focus from visitor volume to sustainability, while also moving ahead with a "quiet luxury" approach that prizes nature and privacy over conspicuous consumption.

Switzerland Tourism held the Switzerland Travel Experience at the Shilla Hotel's banquet hall in Seoul on Tuesday. The annual event brings Swiss industry partners to Korea to share the latest trends with local travel professionals and discuss product development. Held over two days, the program included a presentation on Korean travel market trends, one-on-one business meetings and a dinner reception. About 200 representatives from Korean travel agencies attended alongside 16 Swiss partners spanning regional tourism boards and transportation, rail and hotel operators.

The central theme this year was "Travel Better," a core operational strategy Switzerland Tourism has pursued since 2025 that prioritizes sustainable travel over raw visitor numbers. To that end, the agency is promoting year-round tourism to reduce summer peak-season congestion, diversifying destinations to ease overcrowding at popular sites, and encouraging extended stays in a single region. It also plans to promote the use of facilities certified under its Swisstainable eco-label and to foster closer ties with local communities.

Kim Ji-in, director of Switzerland Tourism's Korea office, highlighted year-round tourism and extended stays as the two most important pillars. The plan is to spread visits across seasons by showcasing Switzerland's distinct seasonal appeal beyond the Korean market's traditional peak periods, and to develop extended-stay travel into a more immersive, experience-driven form of tourism that allows travelers to connect naturally with local culture and daily life.

"In an environment where unpredictable variables — volatile geopolitics, fluctuating oil prices and flight disruptions — have become routine, travel that conserves energy and puts down deep roots in a region is a realistic alternative," Kim said. "Sustainable travel is not a stopgap for times of crisis; it will become the baseline standard that the future tourism industry must meet."

Switzerland Tourism also presented "quiet luxury" as a concrete pillar of the Travel Better strategy. Rather than catering to showy, status-driven spending, the concept combines Alpine scenery, strict privacy and artisan-based hospitality to prevent overtourism while maximizing added value.

"As we formally introduce quiet luxury to the Korean market, we will spare no effort in supporting travel agencies to develop and retail high-end products tailored to Korean travelers," Kim said. "Together with our 16 local partners, we will focus on closely understanding what the Korean travel industry needs and delivering a polished travel experience from a sustainable perspective."

The 16 participating organizations included regional tourism boards from Zurich, Interlaken, Jungfrau, Zermatt, Valais and Adelboden-Kandersteg; mountain railway operators Rigi, Pilatus, Titlis and Finsteregg; rail and ticketing partners Bernina Express, Travel Switzerland and Rail Europe; as well as the Ballenberg Open-Air Museum, the Kreuz & Post Grindelwald hotel and Swiss Air Lines.