Tourist spending in Switzerland returning to pre-pandemic levels

Switzerland profited from a pick-up in tourism last year. © Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Visitors to Switzerland spent CHF16.6 billion ($18.5 billion) last year, which marks a significant jump from 2021 but is still slightly below pre-pandemic levels.

At the same time Swiss tourists shelled out CHF16.8 billion abroad, leading to a CHF200 million tourism deficit, according to official statistics.

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Tourist spending in Switzerland grew by nearly 50%, says the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), but remained 8% lower than the record year of 2019.

This corresponds with earlier figures from the hospitality industry, which recorded 38.2 million overnight stays in Swiss hotels last year – nearly a third higher than 2021.

But spending by day-trippers and transit tourists increased at an even faster rate (60%) than people spending some time in the country (27%), the FSO said.

People residing in Switzerland also had more wanderlust last year, and they spent a great deal more in other countries than the pandemic year of 2021.

This included cross-border shoppers who spent CHF5.1 billion – an increase of nearly a quarter.