Hotels: Fewer guests from abroad
In July 2016, occupancy rates at Swiss hotels were slightly lower than in the previous year. As reported by the industry association Hotelleriesuisse, the number of overnight stays fell by 0.4% in the month compared to the previous year.
According to the Hotelleriesuisse survey, the Swiss spent slightly more nights in their own country (+0.7%), but the number of foreign guests fell by two percent. Among European guests, there was a small decline from Germany (-3.6%), the UK (-3.3%) and France (-3.5%) and a large decline from Italy (-11%). Austria (+9.1%), Belgium (+6.8%), Spain (+5.4%) and the Netherlands (+0.4%) were in positive territory.
The number of guests from China and Russia declined, while growth was recorded from the United States. According to the association, these developments from the first six months continued in July.
Guests from China are particularly lacking in Lucerne
In regional terms, the sharp decline in the Aargau region (-11.3%), Geneva (-6.3%) and Basel (-5.3%) is striking. The Lucerne/Lake Lucerne region recorded the sharpest absolute decline, with 22,700 fewer overnight stays, due to a large proportion of missing Chinese guests. In contrast, there was an increase in Ticino with a rise of 9.5%.
The trend in the mountain regions is not uniform: Graubünden (-1.3%) and Valais (-2.2%) recorded losses, while the Bernese Oberland achieved a small increase of 0.5%. (ah)
