Swiss hotels feel decline in guests from Asia

The Swiss hotel industry recorded 2026 fewer overnight stays in April than in the same month last year. The result was heavily impacted by the war in Iran: guests from Asia and the Gulf states traveled to Switzerland much less frequently. The industry had already recorded a decline in March following record figures in the first two months of the year.

The number of overnight stays fell by 0.6 percent compared to the same month last year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Tuesday based on a second estimate. This does not come as a surprise - the FSO's first estimate for April was already negative.

The decline is due to the drop in demand from foreign guests. Here, the number of overnight stays fell by a significant 5.8 percent. Even the clear increase of 5.2% in the number of domestic guests was unable to compensate for this.

Asia significantly weaker

The foreign markets of origin showed a very different picture in April. Demand from Asia declined particularly sharply: the number of overnight stays fell by 29% compared to the same month last year.

Against the backdrop of the war in Iran, significantly fewer guests traveled to Switzerland from the Gulf states in particular. Overnight stays there fell by 47 percent. India (-32%) and China (-15%) also recorded significant declines.

Meanwhile, the number of overnight stays from European countries increased slightly (+0.7%). Growth was seen in particular among guests from France (+2.5%) and Germany (+0.3%), while Italy (-5.3%), the United Kingdom (-2.6%) and the Netherlands (-2.6%) recorded declines.

America also developed positively. The number of overnight stays rose by 3.6% compared to the same month last year. Once again, growth was driven primarily by guests from the USA, with an increase of 3.8%.

Record start eaten up

The hotel industry had already recorded a decline in overnight stays in March (-5.2%). After the record figures in January and February, the first three months of the year saw only a wafer-thin increase of 0.1% to 9.9 million overnight stays. The definitive and absolute figures for the first four months of the year will be published by the FSO on June 8.

Switzerland Tourism has recently been cautiously optimistic about the summer season. Despite the war in Iran, the marketing organization expects demand to remain stable. For 2026 as a whole, however, it expects a decline of 2 to 3 percent compared to the record year of 2025 with 43.9 million overnight stays.