The summer tourism season in Switzerland is “just as bad” this year as in 2020, the national marketing body Switzerland Tourism says. The reasons: Covid-19 and the weather.
A season-end survey of sector members showed that summer 2021 had been comparable to summer 2020: for example, the number of overnight stays dropped by -1%, but day trips increased by 1%.
“Summer 2021 is just as bad as the previous year and will remain at around 40% under the record 2019,” a Switzerland Tourism statementExternal link said on Tuesday.
Covid-19
A big culprit was the coronavirus pandemic – meaning that most guests were domestic tourists. But these guests often spent more than their foreign counterparts.
Some foreign tourists are reaching Switzerland, especially from Germany and the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). But very few are coming from further afield, with Asian tourists almost completely absent this year, Switzerland Tourism reported.
And the weather
“The exceptionally wet and cold summer weather also strongly affected guest movements,” the statement continued.
Switzerland suffered many weeks of rain and storms this summer, which caused water levels to rise dangerously in some parts of the country.
Almost two thirds of those surveyed said that the weather had resulted in cancellations or bookings not being carried out. There were far fewer spontaneous bookings.
“For trips but also for mountain tourism and stays in mountain guest houses, the weather was a bigger factor this year than the pandemic,” said Guido Buob, director of Appenzellerland Tourism, in the statement.
But Switzerland Tourism said people were cautiously optimistic for autumn. If the epidemiological situation stayed the same, there were hopes for more events and business seminars.
This content was published on
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
This content was published on
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
This content was published on
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’
This content was published on
An examination of squirrel remains in the United Kingdom has opened up interesting questions and possibilities in terms of the history of the disease.
Parts of Switzerland on flood alert, more rain ahead
This content was published on
The Swiss capital Bern and some Alpine region lake areas are still on alert for possible flooding. More rain is expected next week.
Tourism sector will take decades to recover from pandemic
This content was published on
The president of Switzerland Tourism says the year 2021 is on course to be even worse than 2020, with 5% fewer hotel stays expected.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
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.