by James Ruggia
Last updated: 6:00 PM ET, Wed February 25, 2015
PHOTO: The Lake Geneva Region recorded the biggest growth of American visitors in 2014. (Courtesy of Switzerland Tourism)
Count it up. For five years now, Switzerland Tourism has been in the black when it comes to American travelers. "We have seen a 20 percent growth in U.S. visitor numbers since 2009," said Alex Herrmann, director Americas, Switzerland Tourism (ST). Since 2010, the curve in American overnights in Switzerland went from roughly 1,400,000 to almost 1,650,000. "With some of the decreases we're seeing in some emerging markets, I think there's an increased appreciation for the stability of the U.S. market in tourism offices around Europe. In Switzerland we have never underestimated the U.S.; it's our second most important market in both overnights and revenue."
New data from the Swiss Federal Office of Statistics for the hotel industry contain the final figures for 2014. There was an increase of 3.5 percent in U.S. arrivals for a total of 751,514 as American overnight stays reached 1.64 million, an increase of 3.7 percent compared to 2013. The Swiss only count hotel stays, not vacation homes, VFR or other kinds of accommodation.
"The increase in visitor numbers from the U.S. was the highest in the Swiss Alps as well as the smaller cities and towns, which shows that the strongest growth was in leisure travel." The top five destinations for Americans were Zurich with 431,888 overnights, Geneva (238,079), Lucerne and the Lake Lucerne Region (235,233), Bernese Oberland (159,282) and Basel (123,877). With 12.8 percent more overnights in 2014, the Lake Geneva Region recorded the biggest growth in American visits.
If you look closely at most American leisure visits to Switzerland, there are usually three components: city, lake and mountain. This combination seems to occupy an unconscious checklist in the American tourist in Switzerland whether they combine Berne, the Bernese Overland and Lake Geneva or Zurich, St. Moritz and Lake Lucerne. ST sees a potential for growth in this market by lengthening the average stay, which is now some 2.3 days. That was probably front of mind when ST decided to assemble the new Grand Tour of Switzerland that it's promoting with tour operators, agents and travelers.
ST has stitched together a 1,000-mile route that goes throughout the country, which is about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. "The route goes through all four cultural areas of Switzerland (French, German, Italian and Romansh) and can be done in segments or completely," said Herrmann. "You can do the whole thing in about seven days.
"There is especially dedicated signage, maps and more for self-drivers. There is even a ferry ride." ST approached such tour operators as Avanti Destinations, Cosmos, Cox & Kings and Travel Bound as well as Rail Europe and they've all embraced the idea. Travel Bound's package, for example, encourages agents to customize off of three sample itineraries: a five-day Basel to Geneva; a seven-day Zurich to Lugano; or a nine-day Geneva to Zurich with a variety of options for destinations, accommodation, sightseeing and experiences.
In its promotions of the Grand Tour, Travel Bound cited a double digit increase in the number of room nights it booked in Switzerland in 2014 and unveiled a special link to help agents book the Grand Tour. "The flexibility of Travel Bound's website means that travel agents can 'pick and mix' destination options in the promotion as well as change accommodation, sightseeing and experiences," said Elizabeth Crabill, president of Travel Bound.
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