Tourism Switzerland: Rise in Asian Tourists Signals Summer 2023 Boost

The number of overnight stays in Switzerland will exceed the pre-crisis level of 2019 in the summer, predicts BAK Economics in a study commissioned by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. There should also be 660,000 more overnight stays than last year, which would be an increase of three percent.

reasons for that Travelers from Asia and high domestic demand. According to the study, inflation, the strong franc and the difficult economic environment are preventing even stronger growth. The regained opportunity to travel to distant markets also reduces the attractiveness of Swiss tourism.

BAK Economics expects three percent fewer European guests than last summer. However, people from the United Kingdom should book eleven percent more nights. According to the study, expensive flights and the relatively high inflation in Europe should prevent a sharper decline overall.

In the long-distance markets, overnight stays are expected to increase by 37 percent. In particular, demand from India (plus 343,000 nights) and the other Asian markets (+465,000) is expected to increase, as will the Japanese (+116,000), Chinese (+264,000) and the US market (+ 142,000).

However, despite the lifting of most travel restrictions, the very big return of Chinese guests is still a long time coming. The reasons for this include the lack of travel documents, the limited number of visas and the adjustment of travel behavior towards domestic tourism.

This is another reason why tourism in our own country remains important. However, domestic demand is expected to fall by seven percent or 800,000 overnight stays compared to summer 2022. With a good eleven million overnight stays, domestic tourism is still 19 percent above the 2019 level.