The strong Franc in Switzerland has left its mark on the tourism balance of 2012. While foreign visitors to the country did not go as deeply into their pockets, due to the less attractive prices than last year, the Swiss tourists abroad were feeling generous.
Given the favorable exchange rates and prices lower than ever before, this gave them so much more money to spend abroad. Overall they spent 12.9 billion Francs, which is 6.7 per cent more than in 2011, the Federal Statistics Office (FSO) announced. In the 10 year comparison spending has actually increased by over 50 per cent.
Swiss travelers abroad, as overnight tourists spent 9.8 billion Francs, exceeding the 3 billion Franc limit for daily and holiday transport spending for the first time. The positive trend from recent years continues.
Further decline in international tourism receipts
According to provisional figures, foreign guests in Switzerland on the other hand spent much less. They spent 1.3 percent less than the year before. The expenditure was also in decline for the fourth time in a row.
Around two-third of the income that the foreign travelers spent in Switzerland was on travel with overnight stays. Despite this, journeys only slightly decreased from the amount in 2011. In 2012 they spent 212 million Francs (-2 per cent).
“These results justify the further decline of nights spent in hotels and non-hotel accommodation,” writes the FSO of the Communiqué. With stable average expenditure per overnight stay, revenues from these two guest areas have decreased by 4.8 per cent.
Foreign students bring in money
The revenue from training and hospital stays in 2012, made around 157 million Francs (+5.7 per cent). This is according to the BFS, which explains the fact that there are more and more foreign students educated at Swiss universities and private schools.
The decrease in revenue from the day trips and travel areas continued, due to unattractive prices in Switzerland, while the increase of foreign cross-border commuters, as well as short stays, have seen a 5.1 percent increase in their consumer spending to 2 billion Francs.
Overall, the provisional tourism balance for 2012 is approximately 2 billion Francs. Although this is clearly a billion less than in 2011.