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More May hotel guests in Basel than at any time in past 90 years

More May hotel guests in Basel than at any time in the last 90 years
May fun in Basel. Keystone-SDA

Basel hotels recorded 150,854 overnight stays for the Eurovision Song Contest in May. This corresponds to a year-on-year increase of 8.4%. Not since 1934 have so many overnight stays been registered in one May, the Statistical Office said on Tuesday.

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During the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) from May 10 to 17, some 40,414 overnight stays were recorded in the city. This corresponds to an average net room occupancy rate of 77%. Occupancy was highest on the day of the ESC final on May 17 at 89%, and lowest the day after at 42%.

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At the end of May, 62 hotels were open to guests. The average occupancy rate for the month was 70%, which is ten percentage points higher than in the previous year, according to the press release.

May recorded 22% more overnight stays than the previous month of April. Domestic guests booked 60,871 overnight stays and visitors from abroad 89,983, according to the press release.

In addition to the ESC, the international biotechnology conference Swiss Biotech Day, the European Youth Choir Festival and the Fantasy Basel trade fair also attracted numerous guests to the city in May.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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