Dramatic end after promising start for Swiss winter tourism
After two successful winter seasons, the third team was able to build on last year's successes until February. However, the very good interim results, especially at higher altitudes, are in no way able to compensate for the early end to the season.
Promising start, abrupt end: Swiss winter tourism - here Engelberg - is feeling the effects of the coronavirus dramatically. (Photo: Engelberg-Titlis; Photo Christian Perret)
Massive losses are affecting the entire industry, as inquiries by Switzerland Tourism (ST) have revealed. These losses have both short-term and long-term effects, for example by drastically reducing funds for future investments and advertising measures.
Slump in Chinese overnight stays
At the beginning of February, ST predicted a loss of half of Chinese hotel overnight stays for the current month due to the Covid-19 pandemic in China at the time. The definitive figures are now available, and they are even worse: the Swiss hotel industry recorded a drop of over 62,000 overnight stays from China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) in February, which corresponds to a fall of 61.5 percent.
At the time, nobody could have imagined that this dramatic slump was just the tip of the iceberg. Despite the significant Asian decline from China, Singapore (-21.0%), Japan (-14.6%) and Korea (-11.5%), the month of February still ended with an overall increase of 6.4%. At +15.9%, guests from the euro countries in particular were on vacation in Switzerland in greater numbers than they have been for a long time. The winter as a whole (November to February) was also on its way to setting a new record with an overall increase of 5.3% (Switzerland +6.8%, eurozone countries +3.8%) - before the outbreak of Covid-19 also led to a dramatic end to the season in Europe and a slump of as yet unforeseeable dimensions.
Mountain railroads slowed down
At the end of February, first-time admissions to the ski resorts were 10.6% above the average of the past five years. The subsequent closure has rigorously halted this trend and poses major challenges for the railroad companies with their 13,000 employees, which are also being met with short-time working. According to a representative survey conducted by ST and HotellerieSuisse by the HES-SO School of Business (as of March 24, 2020), mountain railroads and transport companies across Switzerland are expecting a 53% drop in turnover in March and 80% in April. According to their own information, the regions of Valais and Graubünden alone are forecasting a loss of revenue of around CHF 100 million. Some companies have already announced an investment freeze.
Swiss ski schools severely affected
The closure of the ski resorts also forced all Swiss ski schools to cease operations on March 14, 2020. According to its own survey, Swiss Snowsports, the umbrella organization of Swiss ski schools, is expecting a loss of sales of around 80 percent from March to the end of the season, which corresponds to around 15 million francs. This means a lack of funds for marketing activities, for example. In addition to the loss of turnover, the partial cancellation of training and further education is one of the biggest negative effects. A total of 58 courses had to be canceled due to the premature end of the winter season.
Most successful digital campaign in history
Under the title "Come and see for yourself", ST advertised winter vacations in Switzerland and reached 4.7 million contacts worldwide in 2019/20 (as at February 29, 2020). This is the most successful digital campaign in ST's history. This was made possible by 46 different advertising spots geared towards the interests and countries of origin of potential guests. "The basic need for guests to experience the Swiss winter is thus demonstrably present. It is therefore all the more regrettable that the season had to come to such an abrupt end. For the next winter season, it will be a matter of staying in touch and effectively turning all these Switzerland fans into our guests," says Director Martin Nydegger.
The strong demand was also evident for snow sports camps, which is reflected in the figures from the Swiss Snow Sports Initiative with its "GoSnow.ch" platform. Snow sports camps were organized for 11,500 participants, which corresponds to an increase of 50% compared to the previous year.
