During the project, which lasted for two years (March 2009 to February 2011), the Enjoy Switzerland project dedicated itself 100% on the topic of quality in Thurgovia, Schaffhausen and the Untersee. A great joint effort was made by the partners in tourism in order to improve the range of available tourist activities and to network better with one another.
20 partners from the region contributed to the project in terms of ideas, personnel and finance, thus forming the project team. The project was also supported by Interreg IV, the support programme for European territorial cooperation.
Below you can find a selection of tasks through which important stimuli for a strong tourist future were put in place.
20 participants of an advanced training seminar can now call themselves Quality Coaches. With their newly acquired knowledge, the Quality Coaches optimise the service provision processes in businesses and thus increase the quality of service provision received by guests. The guest can recognise from the Q1 seal of approval from the Swiss Tourist Board that a company is striving to improve quality.
Around 40 additional participants attended the seminars on the topics of customer amazement, professional sales and marketing management and customer-oriented telephone manner.
Now guests can get informed of the current holiday activities in the region by consulting the guest folder. The guest folder was created in 2010 as a pilot project and is updated every year.
Signposts are not always clearly visible. Together with tourism professionals and municipal representatives on-site inspections took place, to sensitize people to the subject and to target concrete improvements. Written reports have now been drafted for the following partners: Kreuzlingen Lake Museum, Hagenwil Moated Castle, Locoarama, Romanshorn Automotive Plant and Ermatingen Tourist Office.
The “Apple World of Experience” that is the Thorgovian pomarium should form part of the overall concept. The goal is to elevate the position of the apple and thus also promote rural tourism. There already exist various visitor attractions on this theme, however, a “lighthouse” for the region of the apple is lacking. The apple garden should become a loved excursion destination, should integrate existing attractions and networks should be established to facilitate the development of agriculture in order to increase value added. Together with a widely supported sponsorship, the feasibility will now be verified and detailed planning carried out.
The sunny enclave of Lake Constance has been successful in its application for certification with the ‘Families Welcome’ seal of approval. In order to acquire the certification certain prerequisites in the areas of infrastructure and quality of service provision had to be fulfilled. The tourist association of the four Thurgovian municipalities of Altnau, Münsterlingen, Langrickenbach and Güttingen fulfilled the strict requirements of the Swiss Tourist Association and now advertise with the slogan ‘Families Welcome’.
Together with the renowned Steiner Sarnen Schweiz Agency, the project partners developed a staging concept with the objective of increasing the tourist industry. This collaboration resulted in a tourist concept for the sustainable, cross-border development of product and product-range.
In the Lake Constance Region there is a long tradition of landscape gardening. The vision is to make use of the gardens on Lake Constance as tourist magnets. The region’s top gardens are involved in this project concept. Plans have been made to add additional gardens. There are many small and medium-sized gardens that make ideal additions, while other attractions such as museums, castles and parks will also become part of this fantastic garden- and cultural landscape. In order to implement the project, the gardens will be supported by a quality concept, which is being developed together with the Research Institute for Leisure and Tourism of the University of Bern. The content-related conceptual design has now been finalised and the feasibility verified. The next step is to secure the financing.
