Tourism Swiss travel industry stagnates in summer

The Swiss travel industry stagnated this summer. Turnover and passenger numbers remained at the previous year's level, the Swiss Travel Association (SRV) announced in a press release on Wednesday.

This was thanks to a final spurt. After the European Football Championship, there was a significant surge in bookings, which was probably also helped by the rainy June, it said. As a result, the beach holiday season reached the level of 2023 after a slow start. "Only beach holiday bookings in the lower price segment declined slightly," wrote the SRV.

The summer beach vacation business continues to be the strongest in the entire industry in terms of sales. And so the classic beach holiday destinations of Spain, Greece and Turkey took the top spots among the most-booked destinations. Scandinavia and North America have established themselves as additional trends this summer, according to the report.

Shifts into the fall

In addition, there has been a slight shift in bookings to the fall, which will result in an increase in bookings for the season compared to 2023, the association wrote: "For the fall, the SRV expects sales growth of 5 to 10 percent over the previous year for the industry."

"Autumn has been regarded as an extension of the summer season for years - this year, the shift to this time of year is somewhat more pronounced, although some travelers have moved their vacations directly to the somewhat cooler northern climes due to the high temperatures in the Mediterranean," explained SRV President Martin Wittwer.

Strong winter half-year in sight

In addition, a strong winter half-year is on the horizon despite the tense global political situation and increased price sensitivity among customers. The number of long-term bookings received for the winter half-year is above expectations.

"Prices remain stable compared to 2023 and long-haul fares are even tending to become cheaper. This could be one of the reasons why the travel industry is seeing significantly more bookings on long-haul routes," explained SRV. The main trends are Thailand, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean.

SDA