Tourism spending in Switzerland hit record levels in 2023 

Switzerland brought in an unprecedented amount of tourism revenue last year. Keystone/Urs Flueeler

Revenue from foreign guests in Switzerland rose again last year. The Swiss also spent more money travelling abroad. In both cases, previous records from the pre-Covid period were surpassed. 

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Visitors to Switzerland generated income totalling CHF18.4 billion ($20.5 billion) in 2023, according to the tourism balance sheet published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Friday. This corresponds to an increase of 12% on the previous year. The Swiss resident population, in turn, spent CHF20.2 billion on travelling abroad. This figure also increased by 12%. 

With these new figures, both tourism expenditure in Switzerland and that of Swiss nationals travelling abroad have climbed to new records. The previous records were CHF18 billion and CHF18.8 billion, respectively. 

According to initial FSO estimates, the tourism balance in 2023 totalled minus CHF1.8 billion. In the previous year, the loss was CHF1.7 billion. This means the Swiss spent significantly more money travelling abroad than foreign visitors did in Switzerland. 

More foreign guests 

According to the FSO, the number of foreign guests in Switzerland continued to grow in 2023. They generated more overnight stays, particularly in hotels in higher price categories. This is also reflected in the increase in income from overnight stays in hotels and parahotels as well as private holiday accommodation. 

The FSO also observed increases in hospital stays and study accommodation. The latter rose due to the higher number of university enrolments by people living abroad. Overall, income from trips with overnight stays increased by 19%. 

According to the figures, however, income from trips without overnight stays fell by 3.8%. While consumer spending from day trips and transit travel fell by 13%, spending by foreign nationals with cross-border commuter or short-stay status increased again by 5.4%. 

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Swiss tourists keen to spend 

The Swiss population also proved to be keen travellers last year. According to the FSO, their spending on overnight trips increased by almost 17%. The Swiss spent CHF15.1 billion on trips abroad with overnight stays. This corresponded to around three-quarters of total expenditure on tourism. 

Meanwhile, shopping tourism remained stable. In 2023, expenditure on trips without overnight stays totalled CHF5.1 billion. 

Adapted from German by DeepL/kc/ts

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