FAIRTIQ: Maurice, you've been FAIRTIQ's Business Development Manager for Switzerland since early 2021. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Maurice Rapin:
I studied media and communications but my first job after graduation was with the Corporate Development and Regional Transport Division of the SBB. From there, I took a job abroad with Railteam, an alliance of European high-speed rail companies. Despite the public transport expertise I had acquired in both posts, I decided to make a sideways career move and worked as the head of tourism with Swiss Cableways, the association of Swiss ski resorts. It was an ad on LinkedIn that led me to FAIRTIQ. I spoke with Reto Schmid, the Business Development Director, on the phone and came away from our conversation feeling inspired. I did't think twice about accepting the FAIRTIQ challenge.
FAIRTIQ: What are you currently working on?
Maurice Rapin:
My role is to look after our existing and new partnerships in Switzerland.
If we are to broaden our base, it is important that we keep bringing new partners on board. Many of our partners have very specific needs. For example, some are actively pursuing the possibility of introducing new types of travel pass or pricing models. We work one on one with each partner to explore these possibilities in full and put together solutions to implement these changes in the FAIRTIQ app. Solutions can range from capping models right the way through to cost-sharing and flexible travel pass solutions.
What are FAIRTIQ's plans for the Swiss market?
Maurice Rapin:
Our medium- to long-term goal is to gain a foothold in tourism transportation like lake and river cruises, cable cars and scenic train routes. Our simple ticketing solution could offer customers real value-added.
FAIRTIQ: Can you explain what cooperation with FAIRTIQ's longstanding partners looks like?
Maurice Rapin:
We put together marketing operations and launch them via FAIRTIQ channels and social media. We help design the visual and written content and assist our partner regions with the technical side of implementing customised local promotional campaigns. We are also in regular contact with our Swiss partners. This takes different forms but the aim is always the same – to help build our collective expertise. Not only do our partners reap the benefits but we too always learn something new. We also run joint marketing campaigns with our partners. For example, last summer, we worked with our partners in the canton of Zug to offer 1,000 newly minted apprentices CHF 60 credit on their FAIRTIQ account.
We can also run experiments like pricing simulations, and offer our partners access to our special partner portal where they can take a deeper dive into their anonymised public transport data. We have published a detailed blogpost on the topic.
FAIRTIQ: What benefits does FAIRTIQ's transnational expansion bring?
Maurice Rapin:
We are now present in Liechtenstein, Austria and several regions of Germany. FAIRTIQ pilot projects were also recently launched in Belgium and France. Our transnational expansion benefits all our public transport partners.
We organise workshops, webinars and events where public transport partners can share ideas and network. FAIRTIQ partners are all united by the same vision of making public transport simple. This provides fertile ground for enriching encounters.
Our entire partner network benefits from the results of our individual development partnerships, such as the Smart Stop feature and the optimised trip data recording in underground stations. Our market research studies, data assessments and B2B cooperation generate valuable insights and help grow our customer base.
👉 Go here to listen to the FAIRTIQ founders talk about the early day of FAIRTIQ over a traditional Swiss cheese fondue.