The summer season was very successful for the Swiss tourism industry. The number of overnight stays increased by 5.9 percent. In total, the Federal Statistical office recorded 21.3 million overnight stays.
The number of overnight stays increased by 5.9 percent this summer; a total of 21.3 million overnight stays were recorded. This is 1.2 million nights more than it was in the same period last year, as announced by the office.
Thanks to the good weather, the rates starting from the month of May to October were higher as compared to last year. The increase was most pronounced in June with a rise of 9.5 percent, followed by the month of October with 7.6 percent overnight stays more than in the previous year.
The demand of foreign guests for overnight stays increased more than those of the domestic travelers. 12.1 million overnight stays were booked by foreign guests, which is 7.3 percent more than it was last year. Regarding the domestic bookings, the demand rose by 4 percent to 9.2 million.
Swiss tourism authorities remarked that the increase was particularly high among guests from India (+126,000/+27.1%), China (excluding Hong Kong; +90,000/+11.8%) and the Republic of Korea (+79,000/+ 34.9%). Conversely, the demand from the Gulf States was decreasing. With a reduction of 43,000 overnight stays (– 5.8%), they showed the highest decrease in all countries of origin. The demand from the American continent also increased considerably (+216,000/+13.5%). With an increase of 154,000 overnight stays (+12.7%), the United States generated the highest absolute growth among all foreign countries of origin.
The demand from Europe (excluding Switzerland) also increased, with a growth of 183,000 overnight stays (+3.0%). The strongest increases were recorded for the visitors from Germany (+33,000/+ 1.7%) and Belgium (+29,000/+ 10.3%), followed by Spain (+21,000/+ 8.7%); and then France, Austria and Russia (+16,000 overnight stays each; that is, + 2.6%; + 7.1% and + 11.7% respectively). The guests from Oceania generated an increase of 28,000 overnight stays (+13.3%), those from Africa decreased (–2600/–1.8%).
All 13 tourism regions benefited from the increased demand. The Berne region recorded the highest increase with 8.4 percent and 240,000 nights. According to the data, the overnight stays in the Valais increased by 7.9 percent, the Zurich region by 7 percent. In Ticino, the increase was 6.5 percent and 5.9 percent in the Grisons.