Hotel stays nearing all-time high

The Swiss hotel industry is expected to break all records this year, and is being given a large boost by the European football championships.

For the first time, the number of nights spent in the country’s hotels will exceed 37 million, according to BAK Basel Economics.

The figure represents a five per cent increase on last year and is thanks to excellent snow conditions in ski resorts this past winter (+6.8 per cent), a favourable exchange rate and the one-time boost provided by next month’s Euro 2008, co-hosted with Austria.

BAK expects the football event will lead to an additional 500,000 nights in hotels, increasing bookings for the entire summer by 3.5 per cent.

However, following the 2007-08 positive winter season and Euro 2008, next year will most likely see a slight drop in demand of 1.1 per cent.