The Jungfraubahn lift company, which carries people to the top destination in the Bernese Alps, recorded a drop of more than 65% in visitors last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Its visitors totalled only 362,800 people in 2020, compared with more than a million in 2019, including a large Asian clientele.
The carrier said on Tuesday that it had suffered from the “83 days of closure” imposed by restrictions to combat the pandemic. Nearly half of its 2020 visitors came during the summer months (153,000 people), and most of them were Swiss.
But the increased presence of Swiss tourists was not able to compensate for the absence of Asian customers. “In the summer months, around 95% of visitors came from Switzerland,” said Managing Director Urs Kessler, adding that with more local customers, “we have become more dependent on the weather”.
Meanwhile, businesses in winter sports stations report revenue down 11% during the end of year holiday season compared with the same period last year, according to a survey by Switzerland Tourism. They say that although many local people came, this did not make up for the relative absence of foreign visitors.
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Swiss public broadcasters RTS and SRF are drastically reducing their communications via the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Israel: president of Swiss universities rejects academic boycott
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Luciana Vaccaro, president of Swissuniversities, the umbrella group of Swiss universities, is not in favour of an academic boycott of Israeli universities.
First large-scale alpine solar plant approved in Switzerland
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The approval was met with satisfaction by the project's organisers, but it also brings with it a certain amount of pressure.
Medieval squirrels may have ‘helped spread leprosy’
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An examination of squirrel remains in the United Kingdom has opened up interesting questions and possibilities in terms of the history of the disease.
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Could a large development project in Grindelwald mean the death of the last vestiges of the untouched landscape surrounding the Eiger North Face?
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However, the railway operators warned that a lack of snow in the current winter season has created challenges. Two of its other destinations in the popular resort of Grindelwald had to use artificial snow-making systems to get the ski season underway last month. Passengers using the railway purely to get to ski areas on the…
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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.