Eco-tourism - Swiss experience for GCR

Adviye Bergemann, President, Aida Tourism, Istanbul, Turkey has been working in tourism sphere for many years residing in Istanbul. She works with 65 countries and tries to get as much tourists as she can exactly in this region. Ecotourism is just a kind of all tourism diversifications. Adviye appeals to investors and companies' employers to invest in sustainability of the region. Eco tourism implies diversification of types such as national parks, hiking, golf, climbing etc.

While hiring employees Adviye never looks to diploma, she plunges to the soul of the person seeking for love to human.

Federico Sommaruga, Director Emerging Markets & Special Projects, Switzerland Tourism, Zurich, Switzerland has been in tourism for 30 years and now is developing new markets such as Central Asia, South America, Iran and others that are new. Federico is in touch with the authorities of the countries of the Great Caspian Region. The main point he got from there that other countries do the same work trying to invite tourists to their own countries contributing to the tourism industry and making some investments.

Eco stands for ecological, but in Switzerland context it could be economy as well. Tourism is the most important sector of the economy of the country accounting 20million tourists per year. There are four instruments for tourism strategy development: regional policy, support of innovation, support of hotels with credits, marketing organization.

Federico presents a new developed concept -Grand Tour of Switzerland that unites all suppliers and national parks management for making efforts to create itinerary of the country. He invites everyone to get acquainted to the country using panoramic trains which are well-known there. It is advised that the Great Caspian region shall create the itinerary as well getting help from Switzerland.

Andrej Reljic, Medical Travel Coordinator, Merian Iselin Clinic. More and more often tourists come to Switzerland not only for skiing and spa, but also for education and medical treatment. It is not about illness, but it can be yoga, fitness, and other healthy practices. Three components are easily combined there: tourism, hospitality, and medicine. At the same time, it is too important to share experience and competence to make investments in people's lives.

One of the questions was about the methods of increase of stuff hospitality and the answer to that was education that is too important in this sphere.