Chaplin boosts tourism in Swiss Riviera

A new museum near Lake Geneva dedicated to the life and work of filmmaker Charlie Chaplin is proving a hit with visitors from Switzerland and abroad. (rts/swisisnfo.chExternal link/jh)

Since its opening in April, the museum above the town of Vevey has attracted 25,000 visitors per month. Tourism bosses are hoping that, as a result of its popularity and the draw of other attractions in the area, the region will become a European cultural capital.

Chaplin’s World is set on the grounds of the Manoir de Ban, where the actor and director lived for the last 25 years of his life with his wife and children. This part of the museum in his home focuses on the comic legend’s private life, and in a new building serving as a mock-up of a Hollywood studio, the focus is on Chaplin’s movie work.

The Chaplin connection has spawned a few tourism offshoots. The new Modern Times Hotel in Vevey, not far from Chaplin’s World, is named after one of the star’s most famous films and does a steady trade. The confectioner Poyet in Vevey has dedicated a special chocolate to the “Little Tramp”.

The Riviera region, home to the annual Montreux Jazz Festival, also features a famous castle, the Château de Chillon, the Alimentarium, a museum that focuses on food and nutrition, and the “nest”, Nestlé’s new discovery centre.