Sweden has had enough of being confused with Switzerland
Is a campaign really necessary? Who wouldn't recognise cheeky Swiss orphan Heidi?
Keystone / Str
Sweden and Switzerland are too often confused – at least the tourism organisation Visit Sweden thinks so and is launching an advertising campaign to help clear things up.
Switzerland Tourism is relaxed about the news and says Switzerland is “unmistakable” anyway.
“Welcome to Sweden (not Switzerland)” is the title of the video circulated on social media by Visit Sweden. As the Swedish tourism office announced on Tuesday, both countries are beautiful and have the same initial letters in German and English.
External Content
But that’s where the similarities should stop, if the Swedes have their way. Every year, 120,000 people even google the question of whether Sweden and Switzerland are the same. In the US, a study by Visit Sweden found that half of the respondents were not sure if there was a difference.
In the Visit Sweden video, a woman dressed in what appears to be official attire addresses the Swiss directly in front of two Swedish flags. She proposes a treaty whereby each country concentrates on its core competencies.
According to this, the Swiss yodel to their hearts’ content in their mountains, while deep silence reigns in Sweden’s majestic nature. And while time is forgotten in Sweden, Switzerland builds luxury watches.
Switzerland Tourism told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA that guests would not confuse Switzerland, neither with destinations with similar names nor with other Alpine destinations.
As a matter of principle, Switzerland Tourism said it did not comment on the advertising activities of other tourism organisations. However, Switzerland Tourism is happy to see “other humorous tourism advertising”.
Visit Sweden, the company in charge of Swedish tourism marketing, said it would contact its Swiss colleagues. Sweden does not mind being confused with Switzerland from time to time, it said. But it is worth clearing up the confusion.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Culture
Wealth is not all: how gentrification in Zurich has led to housing shortage
Should Switzerland take measures to support its struggling industries?
Industrial policies are back in fashion, not only in the United States but also in the EU. Should Switzerland, where various industries are struggling, draw inspiration from such policies?
Swiss forests better equipped against storms 25 years after Lothar
This content was published on
Twenty-five years ago, Hurricane Lothar toppled trees like dominoes in Switzerland. Forests today are better prepared to cope with such an exceptional event, say experts.
This content was published on
The Locarno Film Festival is considering moving from the beginning of August to the second half of July for its 80th edition in 2027.
Council of Europe head Alain Berset visits Georgia
This content was published on
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, is visiting Georgia, which has been rocked by a political crisis, from Wednesday.
Swiss politician who shot at Jesus faces criminal proceedings
This content was published on
The Zurich public prosecutor's office has opened criminal proceedings against politician Sanija Ameti. It is investigating whether she disrupted freedom of religion and worship.
Switzerland must be able to control immigration, says head of business federation
This content was published on
Switzerland must be able to control immigration itself if it "exceeds the tolerable limits", says Christoph Mäder, president of Economiesuisse, the Swiss Business Federation.
This content was published on
The film Reinas by Klaudia Reynicke, a Swiss-Peruvian-Spanish co-production, has missed out on an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film.
Raiffeisen Switzerland CEO steps down unexpectedly
This content was published on
Raiffeisen Switzerland CEO Heinz Huber is stepping down at the end of the year. This means that Switzerland's second-largest banking group after UBS is looking for a new CEO.
Artificial intelligence has yet to affect election results
This content was published on
Artificial intelligence has not yet had a decisive influence on election results, according to Swiss researchers who analysed this year's elections in almost 100 countries.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.