Tourists returned en masse to the Jungfrau in 2022
The rail company taking visitors to the 3,454-metre Jungfraujoch in Switzerland reported an uptick in 2022, but numbers still lag behind pre-pandemic levels.
Around 625,000 tourists travelled to the Jungfraujoch in 2022, marking an increase of 71% on 2021, the Bern-based Jungfraubahn Holding company said on Wednesday.
The company said the return of travellers from “various Asian markets and the US” helped to boost numbers, but Chinese visitors continue to make their absence felt.
With some 90% of visitors to the 3,454 metre-high “Top of Europe” destination coming from abroad, the pandemic severely dented the fortunes of the Jungfraubahn in the past two years. Even with the 2022 recovery, numbers were still 40% down on the bumper 2015-2019 period.
Other lifts and lines operated by Jungfraubahn Holdings bounced back last year, including the Mürrenbahn and notably the Eiger Express, a cable car service between Grindelwald and the Eiger Glacier which opened in 2020. Numbers taking this doubled, the company said.
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Winter outlook
For the current winter season, the company reported that ski passes sold for the Jungfrau Ski Region have so far dropped by 15% compared to last year.
On Tuesday, Swiss Tourism said that across the country, overnight stays in hotels rose by 3% during the end-of-year holiday season compared to 2021. However, daytrippers, notably from Switzerland, have shrunk, largely due to the poor snow conditions and warm weather.
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