Tourism in Switzerland

Rhaetian Railway Glacier Express on the Landwasser Viaduct (2007 photograph)

Tourists are drawn to Switzerland's Alpine climate and landscapes, in particular for skiing and mountaineering.

As of 2011, tourism accounted for an estimated 2.9% of Switzerland's gross domestic product.

History

A photochrom postcard of 1890, depicting the Zmutt Valley with Mischabelhörner group, Valais.

Tourism begins with British mountaineers climbing the main peaks of the Bernese Alps in the early 19th century (Jungfrau 1811, Finsteraarhorn 1812). The Alpine Club in London is founded in 1857. Reconvalescence in the Alpine climate, in particular from Tuberculosis, is another important branch of tourism in the 19th and early 20th centuries for example in Davos, Graubünden. Because of the prominence of the Bernese Alps in British mountaineering, the Bernese Oberland was long especially known as a tourist destination. Meiringen's Reichenbach Falls achieved literary fame as the site of the fictional death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (1893). The first organised tourist holidays to Switzerland were offered during the 19th century by the Thomas Cook and Lunn Travel companies.

Statistics

Jungfrau railway (with Eiger in the background), one of the major tourist attractions of the High Alps (1 million visitors in 2015 (up from 0.866 million in 2014).[1] The Jungfraujoch railway station is the highest in Europe, at an elevation of 3,454 metres (11,332 ft).

Official statistics of tourism were planned since 1852, but were only realized from 1934, and continued until 2003. Since 2004, the Federal Statistical Office had discontinued its own statistics, but collaborates with Switzerland Tourism in the publication of yearly "Swiss Tourism Figures". In the year 2011 as a total number of 4,967 registered hotels or hostels, offering a total of 240,000 beds in 128,000 rooms. This capacity was saturated to 41.7% (compared to 39.7% in 2005), amounting to a total of 38.8 million lodging nights. 14% of hotels were in Grisons, 12% each in the Valais and Eastern Switzerland, 11% in Central Switzerland and 9% in the Bernese Oberland. The ratio of lodging nights in relation to resident population ("tourism intensity", a measure for the relative importance of tourism to local economy) was largest in Grisons (8.3) and Bernese Oberland (5.3), compared to a Swiss average of 1.3. 56.4% of lodging nights were by visitors from abroad (broken down by nationality: 16.5% Germany, 6.3% United Kingdom, 4.8% United States, 3.6% France, 3.0% Italy).[2]

The total financial volume associated with tourism, including transportation, is estimated to CHF 35.5 billion (as of 2010) although some of this comes from fuel tax and sales of motorway vignettes. The total gross value added from tourism is 14.9 billion. Tourism provides a total of 144,838 full time equivalent jobs in the entire country. The total financial volume of tourist lodging is 5.19 billion CHF and eating at the lodging provides an additional 5.19 billion. The total gross value added of 14.9 billion is about 2.9% of Switzerland's 2010 nominal GDP of 550.57 billion CHF.[3][4]

The major airport of Switzerland is at Zurich, main railway connections are to Geneva, Zurich and Basel. The main connection across the Alps is via the Gotthard Road Tunnel and the Gotthard Rail Tunnel. The new Gotthard Base Tunnel, opening in 2016, will improve the rail connection.

The most visited Swiss tourist attractions are first, the Rhine Falls, second, the Berne Bear exhibit (both for free), and third, with over 1.8 million paid entries: Zoo Basel.

Overnight stays by country

Most overnight stays in 2014 in Switzerland were from the following countries of residence:[5]

Rank Country Number of overnight stays
1 Germany 4,394,457
2 United Kingdom 1,667,437
3 United States 1,644,424
4 France 1,337,882
5 China 1,142,438
6 Italy 1,014,058
7Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Gulf states 770,725
8 Netherlands 681,671
9 Russia 532,775
10 Nordic countries 508,264
Total foreign 19,907,377

Destinations

Lucerne, Chapel Bridge.
The Roman amphitheatre in Augusta Raurica.
Wildhaus village, Toggenburg.

Notable tourist destinations in Switzerland:

Alpine
Antelope House at Zoo Basel, Switzerland's most visited tourist attraction with an entrance fee[6]
Cities

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Jungfraubahn Holding AG
  2. ↑ Switzerland Tourism, "Swiss Tourism in Figures - 2007"
  3. ↑ Tourism, Federal Statistical Office (Switzerland) (page visited on 7 May 2012).
  4. ↑ SECO Gross domestic product - quarterly estimates (page visited on 7 May 2012).
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ (German) Wieder ein Besucherrekord im Zolli. Basler Zeitung, published 2013-2-21, retrieved 2013-2-21

Bibliography

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Switzerland.
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