Hotel stays increased by 13.8% in first half of 2023

The Swiss regions with the largest increase in visitors were Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne and Bern. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

The Swiss hotel sector recorded 19.5 million overnight stays in the first half of 2023. This is an increase of 13.8%, or 2.4 million more overnight stays when compared with the same period in 2022.

All six months in the first half of 2023 showed an increase in overnight stays when compared to the same time period of the previous year. These provisional figures also show an increase of 3.6% as compared to the first six months of 2019, the time prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) writes in a press release on Friday. 

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Increase in foreign visitors

In the first half of 2023, overnight stays by foreign guests increased by 33% compared to the same time period of 2022. Significant growth was recorded in all months of the first half of 2023. The highest increase was in January, with a recorded 63.5% increase in overnight stays. However, foreign visitor interest was still 7.5% lower than that from the first half of 2019.

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Visitors from the US accounted for the highest increase, accounting for 1.7 million visitors with an increase of 589,000 visitors as compared to 2022. Visitors from Asia doubled with an increase of 864,000 more visitors.

The Swiss regions with the largest increase in visitors were Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne and Bern with an increase of 31.7%, 26.7%, 19.4% and 18.8% respectively. In canton Ticino, overnight visitor interest decreased by 3.2%.

Domestic interest from within Switzerland, however, remain relatively unchanged when compared to last year.