Language is still a big challenge in boosting individual tourist numbers, he says, as Chinese tourists hardly speak French, German or Italian. Eberhard says as a result tourists often need translators and hence prefer to travel mostly in groups.

"They love to do shopping and mostly, they like to buy watches and jewelry," says Eberhard, adding it has long been a tradition for Chinese tourists to shop in Switzerland.

"It is not uncommon to see groups of Chinese tourists huddled together at sales counters and discussing the finer nuances of the products," he says.

Tourism contributes nearly 5 percent to the Swiss economy, after machinery, pharmaceuticals and watches.

"Don't forget that apart from tourism products, income from tourism has a long chain, including food, shopping, accommodation and excursions," Eberhard says.

In 1999, Chinese tourists spent 140,000 nights in Switzerland and by 2012, the number had jumped nearly six-fold to 840,000 nights.

On average, the shortest stay by Chinese tourists in Switzerland is between one and two nights. Most of the time, these are often first-time visitors who want to take in as many countries as possible during a 10-day or one-week tour.

Eberhard says that will change and quotes the example of US tourists.

"American tourists also love to travel in groups and by bus in Europe and they want to explore as many countries as possible. But when they come for the second or third time to Europe, they often want in-depth tours in a particular country. I am sure the high-end Chinese tourists will also follow the same path," he says.

A new trend that is becoming popular with Chinese tourists is the concept of ski holidays in Switzerland.

"Though visiting more destinations is trendy, many Chinese are now looking at various options to maximize their holiday experience," Eberhard says.

To cater to these demands, Switzerland Tourism has teamed up with two tourism operators in China for promoting winter packages like "a day in the snow and a day without".

Chinese tourists love to spend and on average spend around 350 Swiss francs (282 euros; $376) a day in Switzerland.

Tourists from the Gulf countries and Japan, on the other hand, spend 500 and 400 Swiss francs respectively.

Eberhard feels that Chinese tourists normally spend more on shopping, whereas Japanese love to splurge on quality hotels.

"The difference between Chinese and Japanese tourists is quite small now."

He says most of the Chinese shoppers prefer to buy exclusive and expensive watch brands like IWC and Rolex so that they can make their holiday "a truly memorable experience".

Tourism authorities in Switzerland have also been working with various visa approval agencies and tourism operators to facilitate and speed up the procedures for Chinese tourists.

He says it would soon be possible for Chinese tourists to get Swiss visas within five days, while long-time multi-entry visas for Schengen visa holders are also on the cards.

"With all these conveniences in the offing, I am confident that we can fully unlock the potential in the Chinese market," Eberhard says.

According to him, a recent survey has estimated that more than 4.5 million Chinese plan to travel to Europe this year.

Of this nearly 1.6 million have the desire and the required funds to visit Switzerland.

"A lot of those people are not first-time visitors to Europe. Obviously they want to do something different, and we are looking to target them," Eberhard says.

For many Chinese tourists Switzerland is also an important destination for education of their children.

"We have to do more to facilitate the entry of such people," he says.

The general perception that Switzerland is a winter destination is also not correct, he says as the European nation has four distinct seasons, all of which are beautiful.

But as a rule of thumb, it would be better if Chinese tourists avoid April and November, he says.

Eberhard says his organization's main strategy would be to provide diversified vacations.

"If every one comes at the same time, it will be very crowded. We are looking at seasonal peaks for the Swiss market."

For example, Indians mainly come in May and June. Chinese and Europeans usually spend their holidays in June, July and August.

For Chinese tourists, there are three peaks, which are in summer, October and January-February. But the majority of Chinese now come during the summer holidays.

Though climate change has affected snowfall in Switzerland in recent years, the situation is much better this year.

"This year it snowed much earlier and there was a lot of snow during Christmas and New Year. The season has started extremely well," he says.

Eberhard says that despite the climate change, most of the high mountains in Switzerland have enough snow to attract tourists during the winter.

"The situation is, however, bad for resorts that are 1,400 meters below sea level. They might have problems."

Liu Jia contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at fujing@chinadaily.com.cn and xiesongxin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/25/2013 page21)