Hospitality Industry in Switzerland - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The hospitality industry in Switzerland is growing though the number of visitors to the country is stagnating. The visitors from the US are on the rise whereas it recorded a drop in visitors from Gulf countries. According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, the US visitors recorded a 7.7% growth in 2019 compared to 2018, followed by visitors from China with a 2.4% increase. The visitors from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan also registered growth rates whereas there was a sudden drop in the total number of visitors from Arabian countries with more than 8%. Switzerland also registered a decline in the number of visitors from Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and France. The rise in domestic travel helped the country to recover the loss caused by these drop rates. The domestic travel rate has been increasing in Switzerland and it registered more than 24,000 overnight stays in 2018. The hospitality industry is on the rise especially the international brands. The chain penetration rate of international brands and their chains is increasing. There are around 64 international brands that are offering their services in Switzerland which recorded a growth rate of 8.2% in 2018 when compared with 2017.

Key Market Trends

Growing Number of Overnight Stays are Driving the Market

According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland's hospitality industry in 2018, recorded a total of 38.8 million overnight stays, which is the best result to that date. This represented a growth of 3.8% compared with the previous year. Swiss demand amounted to a record value of 17.4 million overnight stays, which corresponds to an increase of 2.9% compared with 2017. Foreign guests generated 21.4 million overnight stays, which was the best performance in 10 years. Germany accounted for the strongest foreign demand with 3.9 million overnight stays which was 3.9% growth compared with 2017, followed by the United States with 2.3 million overnight stays (10.1% growth) and the United Kingdom with 1.7 million (2.3% growth). In terms of tourist regions, the Zurich Region recorded the highest number of overnight stays in 2018 with 6.3 million units followed by the Bern Region with 5.3 million overnight stays and Graubünden with 5.1 million overnight stays. In 2018, visitors stayed an average of 2.0 nights in Switzerland. For guests from within Switzerland, the average length of stay was 1.9 nights while for those from abroad it was 2.1 nights. Among the tourist regions, Graubünden recorded the longest average stay with 2.7 nights.

Increasing Demand From Foreigners and International Brands is Driving the Market

During 2018, holiday homes in Switzerland registered 7.5 million overnight stays which were a rise of 2.9% compared with 2017. Foreign demand dominated holiday homes than domestic demand. There was a 1.1% decrease in domestic demand, and it accounted for a total of 4.4 million overnight stays whereas foreign demand reached a total of 3.2 million and registered an 8.9% growth rate. Visitors from Europe constituted more than 80% of overnight stays. The Lake Geneva region attracted the highest number of overnight stays with 3.2 million, followed by Eastern Switzerland and Espace Mittelland with 2.2 million and 1.2 million overnight stays respectively. In 2018, the average length of stay in holiday accommodation was 6.6 nights.

Competitive Landscape

The hospitality industry in Switzerland is dynamic and changed its face which the acquisition of one of the largest domestic brand Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts which has a footprint in more than 20 countries by AccorHotels for CHF 560 million. The country has more than 30 brand new hotel properties that are scheduled to enter into the hospitality sector from 2019 to 2021.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support