Many Swiss hotel operators and tourism professionals thought to themselves last year that “there will be better times soon”. However, they still have to wait for really good times. The summer of 2021 literally fell into the water.
“The wet and cold summer weather has a strong impact on visitor movements,” writes Switzerland Tourism (ST) in a press release. Two out of three accommodation providers report short-term cancellations or non-bookings due to bad weather.
Bookings come “ultra spontaneously”
“The summer of 2021 is just as bad as last year and will be around 40 percent below the absolute record year of 2019,” continues ST. There were slightly fewer overnight stays, but slightly more day trips than last year.
This is also due to the fact that most of the tourists are locals this year. And they prefer to do something from home when the weather is bad. “Due to the weather, bookings were made at short notice and at ultra-spontaneous times,” says ST.
Competition from abroad is back
In addition, the industry was increasingly feeling the effects of foreign competition. Thanks to the Covid certificate, travel within Europe is almost problem-free. The Swiss are therefore increasingly drawn to the sea and sunnier areas.
Domestic excursion tourism has suffered almost the most from bad weather. Guido Buob, Managing Director of Appenzellerland Tourismus AI, describes his assessment: “Especially in excursion tourism, but also in mountain tourism with the mountain inns: the weather situation is more important than Corona this year”.
Long-running holiday apartments
However, there was no greater influx of excursion destinations such as museums or adventure pools that are not dependent on the weather. Despite the weather situation, these were only able to maintain the previous year’s level.
Camping is still popular: the demand in this branch of tourism is high despite the rainy and cold weather.
And how will autumn be? ST is cautiously optimistic. Expect an increase in seminars and banquets. That makes the hotel industry happy. And in the holiday tourism segment, vacation homes are a long-runner: “Compared to the previous year, we are currently recording a booking increase of 36% for the months of September and October 2021,” says Bianca Gähweiler, media spokeswoman for the Interhome Group.