Summer looking brighter for Swiss tourism

More and more tourists are choosing Swiss cities over alpine resorts for their overnight stays. Keystone

Overnight stays in Swiss hotels will rise by 1.4% this summer compared with last year. Tourists are expected to swap mountains resorts for the urban breaks during their Swiss sojourn.

A forecast by Zurich’s KOF Swiss Economic Institute released on Tuesday predicts a 1.3% increase in the number of overnight stays by Swiss residents this summer. The number of nights spent by foreign visitors are expected to increase by 1.5%.

Business travel and demand for trendy urban vacations are expected to draw visitors out of alpine resort areas and more toward city centres.

Economic recovery in Europe, the stabilisation of the Swiss franc to euro exchange rate, and an improved economic climate within Switzerland are expected to bring much-needed relief to the Swiss tourism industry.

Swiss tourism suffered a hit this past winter thanks to the combined effects of the strong franc and lower levels of snowfall than usual. The number of overnight stays during the 2015-2016 winter season fell 1.6% compared to the previous year.

Numbers of hotel guests from outside Switzerland decreased the most dramatically, falling 3.7% compare with the 2014-2015 season. In total, 35.6 million overnight stays were spent by tourists in Switzerland in 2015 – a decrease of 0.4% from 2014.