BERN: The number of overnight stays in Swiss hotels rose by 6% in February, the key month for the winter season, according to the Federal Statistical Office. It is uncertain whether the strong Swiss franc is having an influence on bookings, however.
There were a total of 3.1 million overnight stays in February, a rise of 6% on the same month last year. Locals accounted for 1.5 million of these – a rise of 8.4% – while those coming from abroad rose to 1.6 million overnight stays (+3.8%). The combined figures for January and February were up 2.6% on 2014.
Visitors from Asia, in particular China, provided the lion’s share of the increase of foreign visitors, +54.7% (+27,000 extra overnight stays), while those from Belgium (+24,000), Germany (+14,000), the United States (+9,400), Brazil (+6,400), Netherlands (+5,500) and South Korea (+4,000) were also up.
