Swiss hope for holidaymakers from Europe as Asian tourists stay away
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[July 02, 2021]
By Silke Koltrowitz
JUNGFRAUJOCH, Switzerland (Reuters) - It's
a quiet day at Jungfraujoch, the Swiss tourist attraction dubbed "Top of
Europe", a mountain saddle connecting two 4,000-metre peaks in the
majestic Bernese Alps.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 5,500 people a day would visit
Europe's highest railway station at 3,454 metres above sea level. Now
the spacious cabins of the new cable car pass the Eiger North Face
almost empty.
"Last year, the number of visitors dropped by two-thirds to 362,800. We
expect a similar number of guests this year," said Kathrin Naegeli,
spokesperson for Jungfrau Railways. Over a million people visited
Jungfraujoch in 2019, about 70% of them from Asia.
Switzerland's tourist industry is bracing for another tough year as
Swiss and European travellers are not expected to fully make up for the
absence of Asian tourists kept at home by COVID-related restrictions.
"We already lost half of this year, we can't catch up. But we want to
make the most of the second half," Martin Nydegger, director of
Switzerland Tourism, told Reuters last week.
"Normally, more than half of our tourists are from abroad. Swiss guests
can't fill that gap."
The sector has got 40 million Swiss francs ($43 million) in state aid so
far and many companies have also applied for support under the
shorter-working hours scheme.
The Alpine country, also known for the Matterhorn and picturesque Lake
Lucerne, expects to welcome 15% more Germans and 20% more French guests,
but overall overnight stays are expected to dip another 5% this year
before recovering in 2022.
Switzerland eased travel restrictions last week, opening its doors to
fully vaccinated international visitors, but this comes too late to save
the summer season.
"We think we'll see the first guests from the U.S., also from the Gulf
states," Nydegger said. "The long-distance markets in Asia will come
later."
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Tourists walk in front of the railway station as the Eiger North
Face is seen in the background on Kleine Scheidegg mountain pass, in
Switzerland June 28, 2021. Picture taken June 28, 2021. REUTERS/Arnd
Wiegmann
Naegeli said Jungfrau Railways hoped Chinese visitors
would return in October for the Golden Week holiday.
Jungfraujoch has heavily marketed itself to Asian groups who often
visit Switzerland for just a day while touring Europe. To speed
access, Jungfrau Railways invested 470 million Swiss francs in a new
cable car inaugurated in December.
"After COVID, people will maybe no longer travel in big groups. We
expect more individual travellers," Naegeli said.
Meanwhile, Swiss tourists on Jungfraujoch enjoyed the absence of
crowds.
"It's my first time up here. I decided to come now because it's not
so busy," said one man from near Basel who gave his name as Stephan.
Hotelier Andreas von Almen, who welcomes mostly Europeans at his
venerable 'Bellevue des Alpes' opposite the impressive 1,800-metre
Eiger North Face, said he wouldn't regret it if mass tourism was
gone for good.
"I'm afraid it will all go back to normal, but I hope it will change
a bit as well," he said.
"Mass tourism brings a lot of guests in the short term, but when
things go wrong, everybody needs state aid immediately. It's not
sustainable, we need to focus on quality if we want to keep paying
our high Swiss salaries."
($1 = 0.9243 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz and Arnd Wiegmann)
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