Switzerland, hotel

Hotels in Switzerland: falling demand in August

Hotels in Switzerland suffered significant decline in reservations this summer. In August 2011 the number of bookings compared to August 2010 decreased by 6.3%. The main reason for the decline in demand Swiss hoteliers called the strong franc, which made expensive holidays in local hotels even more expensive.

In addition to the falling number of reservations also decreased the number of foreign guests, who prefer to holiday in Swiss hotels. In total, their number decreased by 9.4%. Such decline was due to the decreased flow of tourists from the EU countries.

But for Asia Switzerland was more attractive. In total the number of tourists from this region increased by 3.3%, according to swissinfo.ch. Here the leader was China, which citizens booked up to 65% more tours than last year. Another "Asian tiger", which contributed to the welfare of the hotel industry in Switzerland, was South Korea. The number of reservations from South Korean tourists grew by 21% in Switzerland.

These figures show that Switzerland follows the common European trend, which is characterized by the growth of tourists from developing countries, particularly China and India. The growth of tourists from these countries is observed in almost all leading travel powers of the Old World. For example, in Spain the number of tourists from India increased by 35% this summer.

However, the overall condition of Swiss hotels is not too optimistic. During 8 months of 2011 the number of overnight stays in the country hotels fell by 1.7%, while the number of visitors fell by 2.8%. The most significant drop was noted in the Graubünden canton. The only region of Switzerland, where hotels showed signs of recovery is the canton of Fribourg.

It remains to hope that the situation will improve with the ski season. Ski resorts in Switzerland, even despite the high prices, are one of the most attractive winter holiday destinations on the planet.

Ilya Kalachev

Photo: Michail Gnot

Date: 11/10/2011