Swiss hotel industry enjoyed bumper summer season

Swiss hotels reported four million more overnight stays last summer compared to the same period in 2021, or a 22% increase. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Hotel owners reported a sharp rise in overnight stays last summer compared to the previous year. But overall figures were still lower than for summer 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Swiss hotel sector recorded 22.4 million overnight stays between May and October, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) saidExternal link on Monday. This represents four million more overnight stays compared to summer 2021, or a 22% increase.

However, the overall number of overnight stays in Swiss hotels is down by 1.3% compared to summer 2019.

Strong growth was reported in June (+57%) and May (+37.5%). Autumn was also busy, with almost 3.22 million overnight stays in October (+11%).

The ending of Covid-19 restrictions in spring 2022 led to a surge in foreign visitors (+84.6%) compared to the previous summer. Many came from Europe, led by British holidaymakers (501,000 overnight stays), followed by those from Germany (378,000) and France (144,000). Visitors from the United States (1.2 million) and Asia (1.2 million) also came in large numbers.

Meanwhile, the Swiss travelled further afield last summer – overnight stays by Swiss visitors were down by 6% to 11.9 million.

“This decline can be explained by the historically high level of demand from Swiss customers in 2021,” said the FSO.

After two seasons of Covid restrictions, officials have expressed guarded optimism about this winter. The number of hotel stays should rise by 1% compared to the pre-pandemic level thanks to the return of foreign visitors (+18% expected compared to last year), Switzerland Tourism said in late November.