Celebrating 60 Years of the World’s First National Convention Bureau

 

While serving as tourism director for Montreux, Switzerland, in 1964, Raymond Jaussi had a bright idea.

Montreux, nestled within steep hills at the foot of the Alps on Lake Geneva, was already the picture-perfect resort town, drawing leisure travelers from around the world for everything from summer vacations to holiday-season getaways.

But Jaussi saw further potential to put Montreux and more Swiss destinations on travelers’ maps, especially if they were the type to travel for business.

His idea was to launch a nationally orchestrated congress marketing effort to promote Montreux and more cities across Switzerland as business events destinations.

“At that time, he had already initiated the construction of a convention center to really attract businesspeople and enhance the offerings of the destination,” said Barbra Albrecht, director of the Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau (SCIB) and member of the board of Switzerland Tourism (ST).  

Now, he just had to find a way to encourage people to use it.

Jaussi shared his idea and partnered with representatives from destinations including Bern, Engelberg, Interlaken, Lausanne, St. Moritz and Zurich to establish the world’s first national convention bureau, stressing to them that they weren’t just resort destinations for summertime hiking and wintertime skiing, but year-round destinations capable of hosting world-class business events.  

Sixty years ago, on December 18, 1964, Jaussi and his partners gathered at Hotel Bristol Bern and the “Interest Group of Swiss Congress Cities” (or Arbeitsgemeinschaft Schweizer Kongress-Orte [ASK]) was born.

SCIB celebrated its 60th anniversary in style at IBTM Barcelona in late November. Throughout its history, the organization has become an official division of the national marketing organization Switzerland Tourism and is active in 13 countries across North America, Europe and Asia.  

“On this occasion, I would like to thank our Swiss and international partners, our dedicated staff, who, every day, contribute to the international success of Switzerland as a meetings and incentive destination,” Albrecht said in a press release about the celebration. “I am confident that SCIB will continue to inspire organizers, companies and participants alike to come to Switzerland for many more decades.”

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A Highlight From SCIB’s History

In the ‘60s, when Jaussi was working in Montreux’s tourism office, his coworker, Claude Nobs, worked in accounting as the office’s bookkeeper.  

“Jaussi told him, ‘We need to have some animation, something going on in summertime to draw more visitors. I can give you $5,000, and you do something with it,’” Albrecht said. “[Nobs] loved music, and he started with the idea of a jazz festival. Jaussi thought it was a great idea.”

So, off Nobs went to the U.S. in hopes of meeting with none other than the “Queen of Soul” herself, Aretha Franklin.

“He wanted to ask her if she would come to Montreux to play at the jazz festival, and he was waiting for her. He had an appointment, and for some reason, she wasn’t there,” Albrecht said. “He couldn’t talk to her, but he talked to her manager and left some Swiss chocolate behind.”

Three days later, Nobs’s phone rang: “Aretha is coming.”

The Queen of Soul performed at the first ever Montreux Jazz Festival in 1967, which has since become an unmissable event drawing nearly 250,000 attendees to the region every year.

“It was the chocolate,” Albrecht laughed. “But Jaussi was really a pioneer in many things, not only in business events, but also in seeing the importance of events as an animation. He had really big visions, and he was quite a pioneer. We’re here thanks to him.”

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From ASK to SCIB: A Switzerland Tourism Timeline

1969: ASK makes official contact with Swissair and establishes partnerships with SVZ (now Switzerland Tourism), Swissair, SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) and PTT/Swiss Post.  

1991: ASK is renamed to Swiss Congress & Incentive Destinations (SCID), owns an office in Montreux with a full-time employee and organizes the first Switzerland Congress and Incentive Market (SCIM) trade fair in Montreux.

1996: The SCID office moves to the premises of Switzerland Tourism (ST) in Zurich on April 1 and is renamed Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau (SCIB). On December 16, SCIB and ST sign a cooperation agreement for the first time.

1997: SCIB introduces new member categories including: Regions, Agencies (destination management companies [DMCs], professional congress organizers [PCOs]) and Service Partners (technology, etc.)

2000: SCIB goes through a tripling of funds and human resources. The organization has a CHF (Swiss franc) 2.5 million (approximately US$2.83 million) marketing budget, approximately 14 specialized employees and between 27 to 30 partners (regions, destinations and service partners such as agencies, transport and other service providers).

2014: SCIB’s marketing budget reaches CHF 3 million (approximately US$3.4 million) and SCIB becomes a specialized department within ST with 21 employees (16 full-time positions worldwide, including five at headquarters). SCIB reaches 13 markets (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Nordics, Russian Federation, North America, China, India, Brazil, Southeast Asia and Switzerland) and has 28 members (national organizations, regions, destinations, service companies and service providers).

2018: Destination Weddings is established as a new SCIB campaign.

2024: SCIB is integrated into the new ST brand structure, “Meet Switzerland,” and now has 22 employees that support 23 countries worldwide from 12 locations (Paris; Frankfurt, Germany; London; Brussels; Amsterdam; Stockholm; Mumbai, India; Singapore; Bangkok; Beijing; New York and Zurich). The organization still has 28 members and a marketing budget of around CHF 3.5 million (approximately US$4 million). 

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