Silver linings that came from the pandemic: a year to reflect upon

On the 24th of March 2021, we celebrated our one year anniversary. One year since having started our mission to raise visibility for local producers and artisans! What a journey. One year after, it is also the time to get some perspective and look behind us at the silver linings of the pandemic, because not everything is bad!

One year of Local Heroes calls for celebration

To mark the occasion of our one year anniversary, we put together a virtual treasure hunt for our users to come on the platform, browse for heroes, and win vouchers for their favourites. It was a campaign that aimed to bilaterally expose our local heroes to users in Switzerland interested in buying locally, and for users to discover more local businesses and artisans – and also to have fun, let’s be honest! This campaign wasn’t just fun and games however, it was also an initiative to further support local businesses, boost  their awareness and ideally contribute to the consumption of local products. 

From Wednesday, March 24th to Sunday 28th we posted a daily clue with a postal code on a crossword puzzle. The answers were hidden amongst the pages of our platform… Names of heroes! You had to take the postal code, head onto our platform and once typing it in, use the clue to find the correct hero. We then randomly picked one player that would win a voucher. For five days we created a fun competition where one lucky winner was picked, and those that selected the correct hero for everyday were automatically part of a grand prize.

The good sides of the pandemic, a little perspective

This anniversary was also a time to reflect upon the last year of the pandemic, how this economic rollercoaster of a ride has actually managed to bring some positive outcomes!

One silver lining that came out of it was the local Swiss community gaining a greater appreciation for what Switzerland itself has to offer, with domestic demand being the main driver of the tourism recovery in the summer. In view of the travel restrictions and the generally high level of uncertainty associated with travelling abroad, many tourists opted for holidays in their own countries. Domestic demand rose significantly, with Hotel overnight stays by domestic guests in Switzerland in July being 30 per cent above their pre-​crisis levels, particularly benefiting the alpine and rural area.

According to Credit Suisse’s financial report for the first quarter of 2021, we should expect slight recovery this year, continuing to predict GDP growth of 3.5% and a rise in consumer spending. The repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy are now much less severe compared to the first wave, that’s for sure. Measures are less strict than at the beginning of the pandemic, which is why the “yo-yo effect” on consumer spending has subsided. With greater knowledge about the virus, mask-wearing, and prevailing safety concepts, private companies and households have also learned how to organize their activities in a more “corona-compliant” way.

Promising new beginnings

Post-pandemic, a continuing shift toward ecotourism – a fast-growing industry focused on conservation and local job creation – could give an additional boost to the industry. David Ruetz, head of the Internationale Tourismus Börse Berlin (ITB) is convinced that Switzerland will benefit from the emerging boom in the tourism industry. Demand for nature holidays and outdoor trips has increased since the pandemic as people are looking for more security and safety measures during their travels. A significant number of people in a survey by Deloitte also said they plan to fly less often, with CO2 emissions being one of the influencing factors. Across all ages people have become more green conscious and plan to fly less post-pandemic, with those that were flying for business trips included.

The way we do business has completely changed in the last year as well, with full-time home office work for certain jobs starting as an experiment and soon becoming the new normal. Employees have become more productive as the long work commute has disappeared and there’s greater flexibility for time organisation. Those with children have also benefited from this flexible model as they can combine work with childcare responsibilities. Another study, including 2’000 surveyed workers in Switzerland, stated that overall 47% of employees believe they are more productive at home than in the office, with 16% saying they are less productive. An interesting part of the article mentions how the future lies in ‘distributed work’ with employees operating from any location, within an open culture, and aligned with shared goals: an exciting and new working model that is becoming more accepted!

Many businesses that had to pause their regular business activity have used the lockdowns for refurbishments, training and the development of new concepts. This downtime was an opportunity for some to start fresh, and it’s up to us as consumers to make the right spending decisions and actively use our wallets to support businesses that have been hit hard from the pandemic. Shifting regulations every few months, allowing restaurants to have customers again to just take-away and now having terraces open again since yesterday (April 19th). As a collective, let’s make a few more silver linings come out of this pandemic, help these businesses that have just re-opened their doors and keep shopping local, now more than ever!