Number of Swiss hotel stays decreases for March 2015

According to figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Thursday, 239,000 fewer overnight stays were reported this March compared to March of last year.

Representing a 7.4 percent decrease, a total of 3 million overnight stays were registered in Switzerland, marking a slight drop compared to the 3.1 million overnight stays reported in February.

More than half of occupied beds in March were accounted for by foreigners (1.6 million), representing a 8.3 percent decline compared to the same period last year.

Domestic visitors decreased by 6.3 percent, as 1.4 million overnight stays were accounted for by the autochthonous population.

This negative trend is reflected in the fall of cumulative hotel stays, which stood at 8.8 million for the first three months of this year, a fall of 1 percent compared to the 2014 January-March period.

According to figures, while foreign demand decreased by 2.7 percent for the first three months of 2015, domestic demand rose by 0.8 percent.

Foreign stays have decreased mainly due to the falling amount of European tourists traveling to Switzerland - March 2015 reported a 14.5 percent drop compared to the same period last year.

Germany was the country with the biggest decrease of overnight stays, with 78,000 fewer bookings registered in March, a drop of 15.9 percent compared to March 2014.

At the other end of the spectrum, China registered a pronounced increase of nocturnal bookings, with 14,000 additional hotel stays in March compared to last year, representing a rise of 25.3 percent.

FSO also stated that 9 out of 14 Swiss tourist regions have reported a decrease in overnight stays in March 2015.

Mountain destinations were particularly affected as 115,000 fewer hotel stays were registered in Grisons, 74,000 fewer in Valais and 42,000 fewer in Oberland.

According to local media, the strong Swiss Franc is largely to blame for these latest tourist trends. Endit