Swiss tourism continued growing in 2024 as Swiss hotels welcomed more guests than ever. According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), overnight stays increased by 2.6 percent, reaching 42.8 million last year. This surpassed the previous record of 41.8 million overnight stays set in 2023.
The trend towards higher occupancy rates was already evident at the end of the previous year. Records for overnight stays were established during both the winter season of 2023/24 and the summer season of 2024. December saw firm bookings, with an increase of 7.0 percent. In 2024, all months showed an increase compared to the same month in the previous year, except for April, which saw a decline of 3.2 percent, and September, which experienced a slight decrease of 1.1 percent.
Americans Ensure Growth
The increase in foreign visitors over the past year was significant, with demand rising by 5.1 percent to reach 22.0 million overnight stays, the highest level in 50 years.
While European demand weakened due to the strong Swiss franc and a sluggish economy, long-distance markets emerged as the primary growth drivers.
The United States contributed the most significant absolute increase among all source markets; over three-quarters of the additional overnight stays were from American guests. Americans also increasingly contributed to winter tourism.
Demand from Asia, particularly from China and India, also saw a sharp increase of 7.4 percent. However, such demand has not yet returned to pre-COVID levels, remaining 18.4 percent below 2019 figures. This discrepancy was especially notable among guests from China, whose numbers were down by 47.9 percent.
In contrast, domestic demand remained steady compared to the previous year, totaling 20.9 million overnight stays, representing a slight increase of 0.1 percent.
Almost All Swiss Regions Report an Increase
In 2024, nine of Switzerland's thirteen tourism regions saw a rise in guest numbers. Compared to 2023, the most significant increase was in the Zurich region, which experienced growth of 4.9%. Geneva followed closely with a rise of 6.6%.
Bern, Lucerne, and Graubünden also saw significant increases in visitors. Notably, six of the thirteen tourism regions, including Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, and Geneva, recorded the highest number of overnight stays in over 30 years.
Switzerland Tourism expressed its pleasure with the recent figures. However, the marketing organization stated that Switzerland must intensify its efforts to remain competitive in the global market as competition grows.
Additionally, Switzerland Tourism aims to avoid simply chasing "frequencies" in its marketing strategies. This caution is partly due to feedback from certain regions concerning the overcrowding of tourists at specific times.