Swiss tourism industry takes positive stock
There is a lot of catching up to do. Especially in the mountains, tourism providers were very busy over the holidays.
Since the 2018/2019 season, the current winter season 2022/2023 is considered the first, complete and again "real" winter after the pandemic. Protective measures are currently not in force, the tourism industry can work as usual. Guests from near and far are showing great pent-up demand and are taking extensive vacations and excursions. In a first indicative survey among tourism professionals all over the country right after the holidays, successful results are revealed: Accommodation providers expect a growth of 3 % compared to the Christmas and New Year vacations a year ago (whole of Switzerland, in the mountains 0 % growth).
Accommodation in the ski resorts well booked
Particularly in the mountain region, beds and tourist facilities were booked to capacity over the festive season after an already very strong winter. Christmas and New Year's Eve were in high demand in the resorts. This made further growth virtually impossible. Where there was growth, this was mainly due to the increased return of foreign guests (87 % of the responses spoke of the same number or more of foreign winter guests). However, domestic tourists also continued to make above-average bookings at Swiss resorts over the 2022/2023 festive season.
Weather slows down day trips to the mountains
In the case of day trips over the festive period, the balance looks mixed due to the partly poor weather and high temperatures, with a minus of also 3 % compared to the previous winter (whole country, in the mountains even -8 %). This is an indication that Swiss people felt little desire for day trips to winter sports in the face of rain, almost spring-like temperatures and lack of snow at low altitudes. However, those who did venture to the higher destinations enjoyed good snow conditions and the numerous alternative activities available in the resorts.
Swiss tourism thus continues to be very resilient. Although many guests were somewhat unsettled due to a possible electricity shortage, the high inflation rate or the "Christmas traffic jam" and tended to book at short notice, the need for vacations and excursions in winter nevertheless predominated. The negative underlying conditions therefore had no noticeable impact.
