Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss tourist chief warns against Europe-only strategy

Group of Chinese tourists in Lucerne
Tourists from Asia are still outnumbered by guests from Europe and the US despite a growing number of Chinese and Indian holiday makers in Switzerland. (Archive picture) Keystone/Christof Schuerpf

The director of Switzerland’s tourism marketing company has dismissed criticism that the country is overrun by Asian tourists.

Martin Nydegger said concerns by the local population about too many tourists should be taken seriously. But the perception of overtourism was mistaken and potentially damaging.

He said notably Chinese and Indian guests were more noticeable in public, but they were outnumbered by tourists from Europe and the United States visiting Switzerland.

He also pointed out that the local tourist industry benefited from an increasing number of Asian tourists who helped compensate for the European guests staying away as a result of the Euro crisis in 2008.

“I don’t want to imagine a situation where this would not have been possible,” he told SRF public radio at the weekend.

Europe first

His comments came as political moves are underway to link state subsidies for tourism specifically to guests from Europe.

Notably Swiss mountain resorts have suffered a massive decline in the number of guests from neighbouring Germany over the past ten years.

A record number of Chinese tourists at some in sightseeing hotspots and a huge party of Indian guests at the mountain resort of St Moritz earlier this year caught media attention.

Switzerland TourismExternal link, which is mainly funded by the government, has announced it will launch a major marketing campaign next year to attract more European guests.

More

More

Attracting a new generation of Indian tourists

This content was published on Does Switzerland need to leave behind the classical image it has in India so that a new generation of tourists can fall in love with the Alpine country?

Read more: Attracting a new generation of Indian tourists

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

More heavy metal detected in Swiss grassland

More

Study finds more heavy metal detected in Swiss grassland

This content was published on Copper and zinc can be expected to accumulate in the soil, particularly if farmyard manure is used for several years and is greater than the amount of nutrients absorbed by the grass. This was announced by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) on Friday. The findings are based on the results of the seventh National Soil Monitoring of Switzerland (Nabo).

Read more: Study finds more heavy metal detected in Swiss grassland

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR