Interhome - Switzerland's largest holiday homes provider - and Switzerland Tourism - (the national tourism marketing organization) have launched a strategic partnership. Both Interhome and Switzerland Tourism are strong brands which stand for quality and reliability. Under their new cooperation deal, they will make use of important synergies to enhance Switzerland's position as a preferred holiday destination on Swiss and foreign markets.

The holiday apartments sector has long been making an important contribution to the success of the tourism industry in Switzerland - and it continues to gain in popularity. Particularly in times of economic downturn more and more tourists opt for holiday apartments, which invariably offer a better price-performance ratio than hotels. That is another reason why Interhome - Switzerland's leading holiday homes provider - and Switzerland Tourism (the national tourism marketing organization) have decided to combine their core competences so that both can benefit from valuable synergies. The main purpose of the strategic partnership is to strengthen Switzerland's international position as a top tourism destination brand.

Interhome and Switzerland Tourism will conduct joint marketing activities to enhance their respective profiles within Switzerland and abroad. The aim is also to further cultivate existing client groups, while also targeting new customer segments. Additionally, the partnership will permit the integration of Switzerland Tourism's services into the Interhome website and create added value for clients.

Interhome's extensive portfolio in Switzerland currently comprises some 2800 quality-controlled holiday properties nationwide. Says Jürg Schmid, Director of Switzerland Tourism: «The strong brand backing of Interhome will enable us to market Switzerland in a more effective and sustainable way as a top quality holiday destination.» Interhome Group CEO Simon Lehmann also sees the new deal as an important milestone: «The Switzerland Tourism slogan - 'Get natural' - is ideally suited to Interhome's own philosophy combining well-being, authenticity and quality.» The new joint communication strategy will focus on Switzerland Tourism's «Alpine Summer» and «Winter» campaigns.

Interhome specializes in the letting of selected holiday homes, apartments and chalets. It offers a total of 46,000 top quality properties in 21 countries. In 2008 the group rented properties to a record 525,117 guests and registered turnover of CHF 211.9 million (+1,4%). Interhome publishes annual catalogues in 11 languages, totalling some 1.5 million copies. Easy and efficient booking is assured by an international reservations network, informative multi-lingual websites and the most modern communications technology. Interhome is based in Zurich/Glattbrugg and is a 100% subsidiary of the Hotelplan Travel Group. Hotelplan in turn is a 100% subsidiary of the Zurich-based Migros Cooperative, the largest Swiss consumer retailer chain in Switzerland.