St Gallen's red centre is a magnet for tourists
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The tourist industry saw a slight decline in visitors in 2011, final year-end figures show, to 35.5 million overnight stays.
Overall the drop was 2 percent. Decreases were seen only with European tourists, down 7 percent, in terms of overnight stays. The Americas are treated together statistically and while visitors from the US were down by 14,000 overnight stays, Brazilian visitors’ stays rose by 16,000, thus contributing to a rise from the region.
Chinese visitors were up 47 percent, with 191,000 more overnight stays and Indians spend 68,000 more nights in Switzerland.
Chinese tourists overtake Italians, catching up with French, British
Chinese tourists on Mt Saentis 29 October, next to Switzerland's first mountain peak weather station, commissioned in 1882: on a clear day six countries are visible from this point
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss franc continues to have a strong impact on European and US visitors to Switzerland, with the number of overnight stays by foreigners in September down 6.8 percent compared to the same month a year earlier.
Foreigners accounted for a little more than half of the industry’s 3.3 million overnight stays in September.
The overall figure for the year to date is down 2 percent, but in September overnight stays fell 3.4 percent.
The decline in European stays continued, with Bern attributing this largely to the over-valued Swiss franc against sterling and the euro. Visits by foreigners were down 6 percent, but European visitors’ stays fell by 11 percent.
German tourist numbers were down 13 percent, British 13 percent, Dutch 12 and Italian 11 percent. US visitors are down 9.4 percent, although the number of overnight stays by Canadians rose
Chinese tourists to Switzerland: rapid increase as Alps tug Asians
Mt Saentis 30 October: a popular destination for German tourists, is attracting Chiense visitors
Asian numbers and in particular overnight stays by Chinese tourists continue to rise, with a 12 percent overall increase that includes a 43 percent increase by Chinese visitors, some 20,000 overnight stays. For the year to date, Chinese tourists show a 58.6 percent increase.
Germany remains by far Switzerland’s largest tourist client country, with some 470,000 overnights to date in September. The US was second with 172,000, Britain third with 152,000, France fourth with 100,000 – and then the surprise of China, with 67,000 overtaking Italy, with 65,000.
Wanted: British skiers, snowboarders, holiday fans and winter hikers
The British figures are likely to cause particular concern, with the crucial ski season coming up. Swiss statistics show 1.43 million overnights from January to the end of September, and the fourth quarter tends to be low, but the industry is holding its breath looking at winter ski season reservations.
British statistics register “visits” by its citizens abroad rather than overnight stays, and in 2010 the number of visits was down to 896,000 from a 2008 figure of 1.16 million. The first quarter of the year, with the ski season, saw 294,000 British visitors in 2011, compared to 350,000 a year earlier.
British tourists travelled again in the second quarter of 2011, but with the weakening pound, travel increased to North America, remained stable in the European Union and dropped to countries outside the EU, which includes Switzerland. Travel outside the EU during April to the end of June was at a level last seen in 2009 and before that, iln 2005.
Basel Art runs to 19 June (photo: Michael Werner Gallery, New York)
BASEL, SWITZERLAND – Sales at Art Basel are widely expected to be good this year, with the total value of the artwork estimated at $1.75 billion by an expert interviewed by Reuters.
It is the world’s largest contemporary art show, dedicated to the business of selling art, and it will attract 60,000 people in four days, but not everyone is there to buy.
The show is more akin to a modern art museum for many Swiss residents, with the best in contemporary art on display. Some 300 galleries, selected from 1,000 that applied, are showing the work of 2,500 artists, 20th and 21st century works from around the world. American galleries, as usual predominate, with 73 of the places, but German, Swiss and UK galleries are well represented.
Galleria Christian Stein, Milan, at Basel Art 2011
Basel Art opened Wednesday, following a day of celebrity and official guests and parties, and it closes Sunday evening 19 June. There are five basic elements: the galleries, Art Feature, Art Unlimited with 62 large-scale works, Art Statements and Art Edition.
Money matters at Basel Art, so while the casual visitor is admiring the art, hot sales are going on.
Geneva, Switzerland - heat wave (photo, Peter Brodbeck on flickr)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The city of Geneva is now offering a “Geneva pass” with several special visitor offers that should save tourists money and make it easier to select some of the city’s top attractions.
The city’s tourism office is making available for one, two or three days (CHF25, 35 or 45) passes with a good variety of options on offer, some free, some discounted, and with some gifts.
Sightseeing tours by tram, boat or guided walks are part of the offer, with free visits to a number of museums.
Early January evening snowfall at Bern's Aare River and Bear Park
Bern's new Bear Park offers a lovely riverside walk, information on the animals
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Winter may not appear to be the ideal time to visit bears at parks, given their reputation for hibernating, but this is not stopping tourists from streaming to see the new bear park in Bern, which opened in late October 2009. Finn, a young male bear recovering after he was shot when an intruder went into the animal’s den, is particularly sought out.
“He’s in a kind of micro-hibernation,” says bear park spokesperson Marc Rosset, who says you have to have luck on your side to see Finn during these wintry days.
Finn, swimming again in December 2009
“He came to us from the Helsinki zoo, where he did hibernate during his first two years.” But in the slightly warmer climate of Bern, he occasionally goes outside. “He gets hungry, so he goes looking for food,” says Rosset.
Finn’s fourth birthday is 15 January.
