Growth in Swiss tourism hotspots increasingly viewed critically
Published: Tuesday, May 28th 2024, 16:20
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Swiss tourism is booming. "Compared to neighbouring countries, the local industry has already digested the Covid shock well," said BAK economist Michael Grass, summarizing the positive mood. However, this does not apply equally to all destinations. According to the research institute BAK Economics, growth could also become a problem in tourism hotspots in particular.
According to data from BAK Economics, the rush is tending to concentrate more and more on destinations that are already very popular. "Residents in popular tourist destinations are increasingly critical of the growth in visitor flows," said Grass. In addition to overtourism, the industry is also concerned about climate change and the shortage of skilled workers.
Aiming for year-round tourism
In general, the influx of tourists is very unevenly distributed throughout the year. According to the BAK economist, the highly seasonal Alpine destinations are particularly keen to promote the low season and thus year-round tourism. This would allow resources to be used more efficiently and reduce the need for seasonal workers.
Meanwhile, the situation looks better in the cities. In contrast to mountain tourism, nice summer weather or good snow conditions in winter are not crucial here and people are increasingly coming in the fall or spring.
According to Grass, the trend towards city breaks has already led to a slight improvement in addition to the efforts of mountain destinations to better distribute tourist flows over time. However, the BAK data also shows that there is still plenty of room for improvement in terms of year-round tourism.
Strong focus on hotspots
However, according to the BAK analysis, the biggest problem remains the geographical distribution of tourists. Large cities, for example, are much more affected by the trend towards urban tourism than smaller ones, says Grass. "And in Alpine destinations, the changing weather conditions are leading to an increasing concentration."
Large ski resorts also attract more guests due to their greater variety of offers. And according to BAK, they continue to increase their market share compared to smaller ones. According to the experts, there is unlikely to be any relief for tourism hotspots and their populations any time soon. Overtourism will continue to be a problem for the industry.
Length of stay decreases
According to the BAK economists, another challenge for the industry is the decreasing length of stay per guest, both for Swiss and foreign guests. One reason for this is also the increase in city breaks, which are generally associated with a shorter length of stay than other vacations.
According to Grass, longer stays would also have a positive impact on the ecological footprint, as there would be fewer travel movements overall. Every change of guests also involves a certain amount of effort for the hotels.
Value creation to increase
The BAK expert also sees the increase in added value as another important point for the local tourism industry. "This would allow higher wages to be paid, which in turn would alleviate the shortage of skilled workers," says Grass. At the same time, greater efficiency would also help in the fight against overtourism and climate change.
According to BAK, real added value per overnight stay rose by 0.9% annually between 2005 and 2019. However, there is currently upward potential again compared to 2019.
Overall, the BAK economists' outlook for the tourism industry is mixed. They see a positive trend in terms of year-round tourism and value creation, but a negative trend in terms of geographical distribution. Meanwhile, they see a neutral trend in the length of stay per guest.
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