Nearly 11,000 people have died in connection with Covid-19 in Switzerland, which has a population of 8.6 million
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The Swiss hotel industry is confronting a wave of cancelled bookings after the discovery of another variant of the coronavirus, Omicron, the Sunday weekly SonntagsZeitung reported.
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Many Belgian, British and Dutch guests have already cancelled their Christmas holidays in the Alpine nation, it said.
At least 27 countries – about half of them in Europe – have reported cases of this new coronavirus variant of concern, which was first identified in South Africa.
In the central Bernese Oberland region, for example, hotels are reporting up to 50% cancellations.
In Bern, the Swiss capital, company Christmas dinners and other events are also being cancelled in droves.
“The current situation is catastrophic for many hotels,” Claude Meier, director of the umbrella organisation Hotelleriesuisse, told the German-language newspaper.
He urged parliament to once again extend the hardship package which expires at the end of the year. Swiss legislators are due to debate the issue on Monday.
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