Appenzell proposes to limit mass tourism

Hikers at the Äscher-Wildkirchli guest house in Alpstein in 2018. Keystone / Melanie Duchene

The northeastern Swiss canton of Appenzell Inner Rhodes, with its spectacular mountains and hiking trails, is extremely popular with tourists – too popular, according to local politicians who want to now clamp down.

Last year 1.8 million people visited the tiny region, mostly day-trippers. Many went hiking to picturesque locations like the Seealp Lake or the Äscher-Wildkirchli guest house in Alpstein, which gained worldwide fame after gracing the cover of a National Geographic book in 2018.

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Instagram and other social media platforms, and the growth of hiking, is thought to be partly driving the recent growth in visitors that continues to this day. Tourism generates around CHF125 million ($136 million) a year in revenue for the region; every sixth job is directly related to welcoming visitors.

But local officials in Appenzell Inner Rhodes say the resulting full car parks, congested streets and overflowing rubbish bins cannot go on.

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The local government has drawn up a tourism strategy that parliament debated on Monday, under the title “Where are the limits of tourism?” The strategy contains 15 measures, two of which aim to encourage fewer day trippers and more, longer overnight stays. A decision on the final strategy is still pending.

Roland Dähler, the local chief magistrate, told Swiss public television, SRF: “Everything has limits. It is our job to find a healthy balance between tourism and nature.”

Experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic have led to a number of other Swiss regions revising their tourism strategies.

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The city of Lucerne, which is a popular stop-off for coach tours and in particular tourists from Asia, wants to move away from mass tourism with its “Vision Tourism 2030” strategy. It would like to attract more guests from Switzerland and Europe, more congresses, and longer overnight stays.