American travellers push Swiss tourism to record numbers in 2024

By John Revill

American tourists helped the Swiss hotel industry reach a record number of overnight stays in 2024, the government said on Thursday, as the stronger dollar and inflation abroad made Alpine trips more attractive.

The influx of trans-Atlantic travellers supported the sector which has struggled in recent years with a lack of snow and a shutdown during the pandemic.

The number of overnight stays in Switzerland rose 2.6% to a record 42.8 million in 2024, the Federal Statistic Office said, with a 14% rise in stays from U.S. travellers.

"It was a rock solid, good year," said Martin Nydegger, director of Switzerland Tourism, the national marketing association. "For America we had an amazing record."

Tourism is an important part of the Swiss economy, supporting the equivalent of 167,000 full time jobs - or 4% of its workforce - and worth nearly 3% of Swiss gross domestic product.

American tourists came mainly for the mountains, Switzerland Tourism said.

Switzerland, an expensive destination, benefited from high inflation pushing up U.S. hotel prices.

The dollar, which gained nearly 8% versus the Swiss franc last year, also made Switzerland seem less expensive to Americans. But it was still pricy for Europeans.

"In America you have the base price, and then the taxes and the enormous tip, and that really adds up. You can pay significantly higher prices compared to here," said Nydegger.

Domestic demand was largely unchanged, while significantly more Chinese travellers came to Switzerland.

Conversely, overnight stays from Germany - Switzerland's biggest market - rose just 0.5%, and from Britain fell by 4.1%.

Nydegger thought growth could continue in 2025, helped by hosting events like the Eurovision Song Contest which boost Switzerland's image abroad.

"If we can keep a level of anything between 1% and 3% growth again, that would be great," he said.