Economists expect another record summer for Swiss tourism
Published: Tuesday, May 28th 2024, 16:40
Back to Live Feed
Swiss tourism is looking forward to another record summer. According to economists, demand from Europe and Switzerland is falling. However, the long-distance markets are likely to provide strong growth impetus. The USA could become the most important foreign market of origin.
Economists from BAK Economics expect a year-on-year increase of 0.9% to 24.2 million overnight stays for the summer, as they announced on Tuesday. Prior to this, the KOF Swiss Economic Institute had already forecast an increase of 0.4 percent.
After the local hotel industry had already counted more overnight stays in one summer than ever before last year, there is likely to be another record.
USA now most important market
Economists expect strong growth impetus from the long-distance markets. For example, BAK Ecomomics expects positive signals from India. The catch-up potential from China is also still high. In addition, the other Asian markets have grown very strongly.
However, according to BAK economists, the USA is likely to become Switzerland's most important market of origin for the first time. It will replace Germany, which ten years ago was responsible for twice as many overnight stays as the USA. According to the forecasts, every eleventh overnight stay in the summer would be attributable to a guest from the USA.
Swiss guests as an important pillar
For Europe, on the other hand, economists are expecting a slowdown. Real wages in Europe have still not recovered, said BAK expert Simon Flury. Despite high inflation, wages have not risen significantly.
A decline is also expected for visitors from Switzerland, albeit at a high level. Both KOF and BAK Economics emphasize the importance of domestic guests for local tourism.
Thanks to the Swiss, the local hotel industry has digested the coronavirus shock much better than in neighboring countries, said BAK economist Michael Grass. They had rediscovered their country during the pandemic and this was still noticeable.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic