Tourists like service, not high costs

Nearly half of all tourists to Switzerland say they will consider holidaying elsewhere if the country becomes more expensive to visit.

That is one of the findings from the Tourism Monitor Switzerland, a survey of tourists from 110 countries published on Friday by the national tourist office.

More than 47 per cent of the 9,000 tourists who took part in the survey in 2010, when the franc had gained strength against other major currencies including the dollar and euro, said they would consider other destinations if costs rose by at least ten per cent.

They listed price-performance ratio as Switzerland’s main weakness.

When the survey was conducted, the franc had risen from about SFr1.5 to the euro to SFr1.3 in the space of a year, but would not reach its all-time high of SFr1.10 until early September 2011.

Despite the rise in the franc’s strength, the drop in visitors was not as drastic as the survey forecast. The number of foreign visitors was down by 9.4 per cent this past August.

The survey also found that a majority of tourists receive friendly service and are impressed by the country’s natural beauty, cleanliness and quality of services, all reasons why word-of-mouth is the main reason Switzerland is chosen as a holiday destination.

About two-thirds of those surveyed said they came because the country was recommended by family or friends.