The “Beach Holiday Express”

Hotel-Plan, Migros’ travel agency, began selling holidays to destinations abroad again in 1947 for the first time since the end of the war. Beach holidays along the Adriatic Coast were affordable and popular. Beginning in 1954, Hotel-Plan clients could travel overnight to their holiday destination on the «Beach Holiday Express».

Two years after the war ended, Hotel-Plan opened an office in Milan and began offering holidays to destinations outside of Switzerland once again. Along with Capri and Rome, affordable beach holidays along the Adriatic Sea proved to be a big hit. An all-inclusive eight-day holiday in the south cost only 166 francs per person. Italy was the most sought-after destination among the Swiss in the 1950s and the economic recovery made it possible for many people to fulfil their dream of a holiday outside of Switzerland. By 1954, 20,000 Hotel-Plan guests had enjoyed the Italian coast of the Mediterranean Sea. That same year, Hotel-Plan initiated the «Beach Holiday Express»: guests travelled comfortably overnight in a sleeper coach, reaching their destination without missing out on valuable vacation days. With the perennial «beach holidays along the sea» offering, even families with children could now enjoy holidays at the beach. Hotel-Plan was also involved in constructing four bungalow-style villages for families in 1968. It was some time before other destinations in neighbouring countries in the south become more popular. Since the 1980s, destinations overseas, such as Haiti and Réunion, have increased in popularity.