Tourism Significantly more foreign guests in Swiss hotels
The Swiss hotel industry can look back on a successful first half of the year. Overnight stays exceeded the record level of the previous year by the middle of the year. For the first time since the pandemic, the majority of overnight stays were booked by foreign guests.
05.08.2024, 12:11
SDA
According to data published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Monday, the local hotel industry recorded 4.1 million overnight stays in June. This is 2.4 percent more than in the same month last year. Looking at the first half of the year, the number of overnight stays also rose by 2.4 percent to 20.1 million.
More tourists from abroad
Guests from abroad are primarily responsible for the increase. Foreign guests accounted for 10.1 million overnight stays in the first half of the year, almost 500,000 more than in the previous year. For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, they once again accounted for more than half of all overnight stays.
The most important group of guests continues to come from Germany with 1.8 million overnight stays, which is a good 1% more than in the previous year. Around 10 percent more bookings came from America, meaning that overseas guests have now established themselves as the second largest group with 1.5 million. Meanwhile, tourists from China and Japan remain well below pre-crisis levels.
Domestic demand stagnates
Meanwhile, there was a slight decline in domestic tourism. From January to June, the Swiss generated 10.0 million overnight stays, slightly fewer than in the same period last year. Compared to 2019, however, this still represents an increase of around 20 percent.
Overall, the Swiss hotel industry remains on course this year to beat the guest record set in 2023, when the 40 million mark was broken for the first time with 41.8 million overnight stays. Whether a new record will be reached also depends heavily on the number of overnight stays in the peak season months of July and August.
