Swiss hoteliers happy with summer despite rain

Many more hotel beds were filled than last year, especially in the cities Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

The Swiss hotel industry can look back on a good summer season despite frequent downpours. Many more beds were filled than last year, especially in the cities, and foreign tourists are returning.

In June, July and August a good ten million guests stayed in Swiss hotels, the Federal Statistical Office said on TuesdayExternal link on the basis of provisional results. This is 23% more than in 2020. However, the figure is still 2.8 million below that for summer 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

On a monthly basis the situation is clearly improving. In June, overnight stays were still 40% below the corresponding figures for 2019; in July and August the figures were 20% and 8% below respectively.

Cities made up the most ground. In Geneva and Zurich more than twice as many overnight stays were recorded in the summer months as in summer 2020. In contrast, rural and Alpine destinations such as Arosa and Appenzell failed to match the previous summer’s overnight stays.

Staycations

Guests from Switzerland were again responsible for the lion’s share (70%) of overnight stays this summer. Canton Ticino in southern Switzerland also benefited greatly from the change in holiday habits.

The positive development in foreign tourists from July continued in August, when 1.59 million guests from abroad stayed in Swiss hotels, an increase of 56% compared with the same month last year.

The largest group of international guests in August came from Germany, followed by France and the Netherlands. The number of guests from distant markets such as the United States or the United Arab Emirates also increased significantly. In contrast, the number of travellers from Asia remained low.