Optimism for summer tourism awakens after bad winter

"The indicators confirm that Swiss summer tourism will recover gently for the first time after years under pressure from the Swiss franc," says Schmid. It was not a good winter for the mountain railroads throughout the Alpine region, as Schmid told the media in Zurich on Thursday. The frequencies of the railroads fell by 3 percent. Hoteliers, on the other hand, are likely to end the season with a slight increase of 1 percent.

Tourists may have spent the night in the mountains, but due to the snow and weather conditions, they were more likely to go winter hiking or wellness than skiing. "It is a reality that the winter season will be shorter in the future due to climate change," the director of Switzerland Tourism told the SDA news agency on the sidelines of the organization's summer media conference.

Summer and fall, on the other hand, will be longer. "That's why we see the biggest growth opportunities for Swiss tourism in summer and fall," says Schmid. However, the summer and fall business could not compensate for a bad winter. This is because mountain railroads still generate an average of 80 percent of their income in winter. There is still a long way to go before this turns around.

Chinese come back

Switzerland Tourism expects an increase of 1.4 percent in overnight stays for the summer business and a rise of 1 percent for the year as a whole. After the strong franc has had a negative impact on summer tourism in recent years, Schmid is expecting a turnaround - a gentle recovery.

He is very optimistic about the positive sales indicators from China. Due to the attacks in Europe, overnight stays by the Chinese fell by 19 percent last summer. "Further incidents would have a decisive impact on demand from China," says Schmid. While guests from Asia should bring good growth again, but are sensitive to attacks, Americans are considered solid. "The Americans are rediscovering Europe," says Schmid. Overnight stays by Americans are expected to grow the most with an increase of around 6 percent. The Benelux countries, Italy and France, as well as the important group of guests from Germany, are also growth drivers. Demand from Germany is only expected to increase again towards the end of the summer. The UK remains a black box, also due to the uncertainties caused by the upcoming elections.

Summer marketing focuses on experiences

Switzerland Tourism is investing 45.5 million francs in its summer marketing campaign. Among other things, it is investing in 700 adventure offers and new online platforms. The adventure offers available on the website include 130 offers for wildlife watching with professional guides and 220 alpine huts for hire. The "Grand Tour of Switzerland" marketing campaign, which has been running for several years, will become climate-friendly this summer. The round trip through Switzerland, which is tailored to individual needs, can now be completed in an electric vehicle. There are 300 charging stations along 1600 kilometers. According to Switzerland Tourism, this is the world's first E-Grand Tour. The budget of CHF 45.5 million for the summer campaign is considerably lower than last year's CHF 57 million. The reason for the difference is that last year's budget still included the city campaign. (Claudia Gnehm /SDA/hae)

Switzerland Tourism's 2017 international summer campaign in figures:

• Investments (gross budget, worldwide): 45.5 million francs
• Media Relations**60 press conferences, 850 invited journalists in Switzerland, 3.8 billion readers/listeners/viewers reached via the media
• Advertising**11 million brochures distributed worldwide
• Online Marketing: 15 million visitors to MySwitzerland.com, 3 million fans and followers on social networks
• Cooperation with tour operators2.5 million directly influenced hotel overnight stays

* Gross investments worldwide, including personnel costs.
** Planned destinations. Total hotel overnight stays in summer 2016: 20.05 million.