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Tourism in Switzerland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tourism in Switzerland
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Tourists are drawn to Switzerland's diverse landscape as well as the available activities, which take advantage of the Alpine climate and landscapes, in particular skiing and mountaineering, but also due to the many old town centers, with their historic buildings that often preserve parts of their medieval fortifications, and Roman sites. Switzerland is also popular for tourism-oriented railways.

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Switzerland is notable for its landscapes and tourism facilities (Matterhorn from the Gornergrat Railway).

As of 2016, tourism accounted for an estimated 2.6% (CHF 16.8 billion) of Switzerland's GDP, compared to 2.6% (CHF 12.8 billion) in 2001.[1]

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History

Tourism began in Switzerland with British mountaineers climbing the main peaks of the Bernese Alps in the early 19th century.

The Alpine Club in London was founded in 1857. Reconvalescence in the Alpine, in particular from tuberculosis, was another important branch of tourism in the 19th and early 20th centuries: for example in Davos, Graubünden. Due to the prominence of the Bernese Alps in British mountaineering, the Bernese Oberland was long especially known as a tourist destination. Meiringen's Reichenbach Falls achieved literary fame as the site of the fictional death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (1893). The first organised tourist holidays to Switzerland were offered during the 19th century by Thomas Cook and Lunn Travel companies. Tourism in Switzerland had been exclusively for the rich until it became widely popular in the 20th century.[2]

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Notable tourist destinations in Switzerland

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Infographic map of Switzerland
Large cities
Smaller cities
Small towns
Resorts in the Alps
Natural regions
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Activities

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Boating

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Ship of Navigazione Laghi arriving at San Pancrazio island

The following navigation companies offer tourism-oriented boat services on Swiss lakes and rivers:

Cycling

Cycling is popular in Switzerland, both for commuting and as a recreational activity. The country has an extensive network of national, regional and local cycling routes,[3] along with designated mountain bike trails.[4]

Events

Hiking

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Switzerland comprehends an extensive hiking trail network (here the Schöllenen Gorge on the Gotthard route)

Hiking is one of the main sports activities in Switzerland and is often referred to as the "national sport". About one-third of the population practice hiking regularly, with a total of 520,000,000 kilometres (320,000,000 mi) in 130 million hours being travelled every year by the Swiss. Along with cycling, walking, in general, is the preferred form of mobility, regardless of social origins. The total hiking trail network is about 65,000 km (40,000 mi).[5][6] Hiking trails in Switzerland offer a wide range of difficulty levels, catering to both casual walkers and experienced mountaineers, with many routes featuring breathtaking views of the Alps and pristine natural landscapes.[7]

Skiing

Trains and funiculars

Tourism-oriented trains mostly run under the Panorama Express (PE) category. Examples are:

Tourist attractions

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Statistics

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Official statistics of tourism were planned in 1852, but were only realized in 1934, and continued until 2003. Since 2004, the Federal Statistical Office had discontinued its statistics, but collaborates with Switzerland Tourism in the publication of yearly "Swiss Tourism Figures". In the year 2011, a total number of 4,967 registered hotels or hostels, offered a total of 240,000 beds in 128,000 rooms. This capacity was saturated to 41.7% (compared to 39.7% in 2005), amounting to a total of 38.8 million lodging nights. 14% of hotels were in Grisons, 12% each in the Valais and Eastern Switzerland, 11% in Central Switzerland and 9% in the Bernese Oberland. The ratio of lodging nights in relation to resident population ("tourism intensity", a measure for the relative importance of tourism to local economy) was largest in Grisons (8.3) and Bernese Oberland (5.3), compared to a Swiss average of 1.3. 56.4% of lodging nights were by visitors from abroad (broken down by nationality: 16.5% Germany, 6.3% United Kingdom, 4.8% United States, 3.6% France, 3.0% Italy).[8]

The total financial volume associated with tourism, including transportation, is estimated to CHF 35.5 billion (as of 2010) although some of this comes from fuel tax and sales of motorway vignettes. The total gross value added from tourism is 14.9 billion. Tourism provides a total of 144,838 full-time equivalent jobs in the entire country. The total financial volume of tourist lodging is 5.19 billion CHF and eating at the lodging provides an additional 5.19 billion. The total gross value added of 14.9 billion is about 2.9% of Switzerland's 2010 nominal GDP of 550.57 billion CHF.[9][10]

The most visited Swiss tourist attractions are first, the Rhine Falls, second, the Berne Bear exhibit (both without entrance fee), and third, with over 1.8 million paid entries: Zoo Basel.

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Jungfrau railway (with Eiger in the background), one of the major tourist attractions of the High Alps (1 million visitors in 2015 (up from 0.866 million in 2014).[11] The Jungfraujoch railway station is the highest in Europe, at an elevation of 3,454 metres (11,332 ft).
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Rhine Falls and Laufen Castle
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Antelope House at Zoo Basel, Switzerland's most visited tourist attraction with an entrance fee[12]

Overnight stays by country

Most overnight stays in 2019 in Switzerland were from the following countries of residence:[13]

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See also

Notes and references

References

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