Swiss hotel industry with record winter despite decline in April
Published: Thursday, Jun 6th 2024, 09:40
Updated At: Friday, Jun 7th 2024, 01:59
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The Swiss hotel industry welcomed more guests than ever before in the past 2023/24 winter season. This was partly due to the increasing influx of guests from abroad, but above all to the fact that the Swiss are increasingly spending their vacations in Switzerland even after the pandemic. However, not all tourist regions recorded an increase.
18.0 million overnight stays were recorded by local hotels from November 2023 to April 2024, exceeding the previous winter's record by 2.9 percent or a good 490,000 overnight stays, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Thursday.
The figures rose in all months apart from April. However, the 3.4 percent decline in April to 2.8 million overnight stays is probably also due to the fact that Easter was in March this year and in April last year.
Swiss guests stay in Switzerland
Demand from abroad in particular continued to increase last winter following the sharp slump during the coronavirus pandemic. Overnight stays by foreign tourists climbed by 6.0% to 8.7 million. This means they accounted for almost as many overnight stays as before the pandemic. Compared to the last pre-corona winter of 2018/19, the figure was only 0.8% lower.
However, the local hotel industry continued to be supported by the Swiss, who are increasingly spending their vacations in Switzerland even after the coronavirus pandemic. At 9.3 million overnight stays, domestic demand in winter 2023/24 was not only slightly higher than the record figure from the previous winter (+0.1%), but also significantly higher than the 2018/19 figure (7.9 million).
This is a repeat of a phenomenon that was already observed during the pandemic: Swiss tourists are also responsible for more overnight stays than foreign tourists in winter. "The Swiss have rediscovered their country during the pandemic and this continues to be noticeable," said BAK economist Michael Grass at a recent event on the development of the tourism industry.
Germany most important foreign market
Meanwhile, Germany remained the most important foreign market last winter with 1.7 million overnight stays (+0.7%). However, there were still not quite as many German guests as before the pandemic. There was still a shortfall of just under 7 percent compared to the last pre-corona winter.
Meanwhile, the second-highest number of guests came from the USA: with 1.0 million overnight stays, not only was the previous year clearly exceeded (+12%), but above all the last pre-corona winter 2018/19 was also exceeded by a third. The United Kingdom followed in second place with around 780,000 (+3.2% year-on-year) and France with just under 660,000 (+3.7%).
A look at the continents shows that the influx from America in particular rose sharply: +14% to 1.5 million. Asia also recorded a significant increase of 13% to 1.5 million.
China with strongest growth
Growth was particularly strong in individual Asian countries. Above all, China accounted for almost 140,000 overnight stays, almost two and a half times as many as in the previous winter. This was the strongest growth of all countries. However, there were still only around half as many overnight stays as before the pandemic. Taiwan (+43% compared to the previous year) and Japan (+33%) also boomed. Here too, however, the figures were still well below the last pre-coronavirus winter.
Meanwhile, there was a significant decline in visitors from Israel (-27%). Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas, Israelis have generally been traveling less abroad. This has now also made itself felt in the Swiss hotel industry.
City tourism on the upswing
Most Swiss tourism regions benefited from the increase in guest numbers in winter. Ten out of thirteen regions recorded an increase in overnight stays. A positive trend was particularly evident in the urban regions.
BAK economists recently spoke of a trend in city breaks that is making itself felt in Swiss tourism. Overnight stays increased significantly last winter, particularly in Geneva (+8.5%), but also in the Zurich region (+3.5%) and the Basel region (+6.6%).
In the mountain regions, the number of overnight stays increased in Graubünden (+3.5%), while it fell slightly in Valais (-0.1%). Meanwhile, the largest decline by region was recorded in Ticino (-5.2%), followed by the Jura & Three-Lakes region (-0.6%).
Domestic guests made the difference. While all regions recorded an increase in guests from abroad, only eight regions recorded an increase in Swiss guests. The Bern, Ticino, Valais and Jura & Three-Lakes regions saw fewer Swiss visitors than in the previous winter.
©Keystone/SDA
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