Despite the extremely challenging situation surrounding the corona pandemic, the Swiss tour operator Hotelplan Suisse is investing in the future. For example, the portfolio of sustainable travel has been expanded and a new, virtual employee has been hired.

The current situation surrounding the corona pandemic is still keeping the Swiss tour operator Hotelplan Suisse on its toes. The uncertainty regarding foreign travel has increased again among customers due to the recent events. Nonetheless, Hotelplan Suisse feels that the desire for a vacation abroad is still very high. “Most of the trips that have already been booked are taken and many of our customers will be traveling to the Maldives, Costa Rica, Egypt or Dubai in the next few days and weeks, for example,” says Tim Bachmann, CEO Hotelplan Suisse. The receipt of new bookings for the coming weeks is currently very low.

Last year, various sustainable trips were launched in Europe under the “Slow Travel” product line. This offer has now been expanded even further. For example, various trips by train have been added to the portfolio. The company has also already purchased various flight contingents from Helvetic Airways and in the summer flies weekly from Zurich to Kos, Crete, Antalya, Mallorca and Larnaca as well as from Bern-Belp to Kos, Crete, Rhodes, Mallorca, Larnaca and Antalya. “The new planes from Helvetic Airways support our plan to work for sustainable tourism, because they consume significantly less kerosene than others,” continues Bachmann.

Virtual employee for Hotelplan Schönbühl

Hotelplan Suisse also continues to invest in digital projects. The first virtual employee “Tom” started his work this week in the Hotelplan branch in Shoppyland Schönbühl (BE). Tom is an interactive screen on which customers can be inspired to vacation, order catalogs or contact a travel advisor via touchscreen or voice recognition. “Tom is supposed to be there to provide support during off-peak times and is not intended to be a substitute for our branch employees. If the pilot project with Tom is successful, we can imagine deploying additional virtual employees in other Hotelplan branches, ”explains Tim Bachmann.