Swiss hoteliers are cautiously optimistic for the winter season
Swiss hoteliers are cautiously optimistic for the winter season
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Swiss hoteliers are cautiously optimistic for the winter season
Most Swiss hoteliers are cautiously optimistic about the coming winter season. Especially in the Alpine regions, businesses are confident. However, increased costs are likely to weigh on margins.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Schweizer Hoteliers sind für Wintersaison vorsichtig optimistisch
Original
Around 56% of Swiss hoteliers expect turnover in the 2024/25 winter season to be the same as in the previous year, according to a statement issued by the Hotelleriesuisse association on Monday. However, this would represent stagnation at a high level, especially as the number of overnight stays reached a high of 18 million in the previous year. Around a quarter of those surveyed expect a further increase.
Confidence is particularly high in the Alpine regions, where one in three businesses is expecting higher turnover. This forecast is supported by the hope of good weather and snow conditions. In contrast, businesses in urban and rural regions are comparatively cautious.
Cost pressure
High costs are causing problems for the industry. Looking back, 55% of those surveyed reported lower margins during the last summer season. The majority of establishments were therefore only able to pass on some of the increased costs to guests. Hoteliers cited higher staff costs as the most important cost driver, followed by higher energy prices and inflation in general.
More
More
Swiss hotels set record for overnight stays in 2023
This content was published on
Swiss hotels set a new guest record in 2023. With 41.8 million overnight stays, they broke the 40 million mark for the first time.
This coming winter only a minority are likely to succeed in adjusting prices to the higher cost base: only just under a third of establishments intend to increase prices, compared to half of them in the last survey.
Now half are planning to keep prices the same and around 15% want to reduce prices. According to the study, price adjustments due to demand play a secondary role in the increases, while they are the main reason for planned reductions.
Lack of staff
According to the association, another major problem for hoteliers is the continuing shortage of staff. A clear majority of respondents named this as the biggest challenge for the industry.
Changes in the composition of guests and the short-term nature of bookings, which had a negative impact on planning reliability, were also high on the barometer of concerns. According to the survey, climate change also poses major challenges for the industry.
According to the press release, around 160 members of the Hotelleriesuisse association took part in the annual survey. They were surveyed between October 25 and 31, 2024.
Translated from German by DeepL/jdp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Related Stories
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
Swiss study examines why women and men choose different professions
This content was published on
According to a new study, the fact that there are still prevalently female and male professions is down to the nature of the job.
Swiss president unveils new theme park dedicated to Saint Bernards
This content was published on
The new Barryland theme park in Martigny, south-western Switzerland, was officially opened on Thursday in the presence of Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter.
Swiss court rejects diplomats’ daughter’s request for permanent residence
This content was published on
The 17-year-old daughter of a diplomatic couple working in Switzerland is not entitled to a residence permit, the Federal Administrative Court has ruled.
Swiss hospitals urge faster recognition of foreign medical qualifications
This content was published on
Foreign doctors wishing to work in a Swiss hospital have to wait several months for their diplomas to be recognised, a situation the hospital association H+ calls 'untenable'.
Switzerland to introduce code of conduct for collecting referendum signatures
This content was published on
Commercial collectors of signatures for initiatives and referendums could be given a legally non-binding code of conduct. This proposal comes from the Federal Chancellery following the discovery of thousands of falsified signatures.
Priest in Switzerland accused of sexually assaulting minors
This content was published on
The trial of a priest accused of sexually abusing nine people opened on Thursday in the Ticino cantonal criminal court in Lugano, southern Switzerland.
Two out of three people in Switzerland use more than one language daily
This content was published on
Two out of three people in Switzerland regularly use several languages in their everyday lives, most often the country's national languages.
Destroyed Swiss village of Blatten to be rebuilt within four years
This content was published on
After the devastating landslide, Blatten in Valais should be standing again by 2029. Municipal president Matthias Bellwald confirmed the corresponding plans to the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday, which he had presented at a municipal meeting the previous evening.
Lufthansa mulls importing its future Boeing aircraft via Switzerland
This content was published on
Buying new Boeing aircraft from the United States via Switzerland could reduce the US trade deficit with Switzerland and avoid punitive customs duties, says a newspaper report.
Swiss environment minister ‘hopeful’ plastic pollution treaty within reach
This content was published on
Swiss Environment Minister Albert Rösti said he's "hopeful until the end" that an ambitious agreement against plastic pollution can be negotiated by the end of the year.
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.