Home » World » The wave of bankruptcy threatens – the tourism director appeals to the Swiss population – business

The wave of bankruptcy threatens – the tourism director appeals to the Swiss population – business

Martin Nydegger, do you have to change your vacation plans because of Corona?

No, I planned my vacation in Switzerland anyway. We’re going to Ticino. I am fortunate that I don’t have to plan my summer vacation any differently.

“Dream now – travel later” is the new slogan of Switzerland Tourism. When is «later»

We are all currently somewhat locked up and cannot travel. Nobody thinks that is great. But you can dream. We want to arouse anticipation for the time afterwards. We hope that it will be June 8th at the latest when the travel and vacation will be possible again.

What if the Swiss dream all of 2020 and save the money for vacation abroad in 2021?

That is not out of the question. We have identified three types for the tourism industry: the pragmatist who travels again as soon as the restrictions are relaxed. The procrastinator who needs a lot of information and who has to be convinced that he is safe. He will stay in safe Switzerland for a long time, traveling more by car and spending the night in a holiday apartment than in a hotel. And then there is the fearful. He will sit out the crisis sooner and postpone his vacation.

Has 2020 been lost for Swiss tourism?

2020 will be a terrible year. But not everything is lost. January and February were very good months. Now we have a quarter that was terrible. The cities are particularly badly affected. It would be high season for city breaks and business tourism. The slump is particularly brutal. In the mountain areas it was more of a low season. The slump is comparatively less severe. We have six months from June to save what can be saved.

Are there any predictions of what summer will be like?

People are reluctant. Mountain areas and rural Switzerland could go well. There you are not so close to each other. The holiday guests will be able to hike, swim and bike. In the mountains you also get the impression that everything is a little cleaner, the air is cleaner. The weekends and school holidays will be well booked there.

That sounds optimistic.

Measured against the crisis, the starting point is okay. Summer can take place. We now hope that people have confidence. However, our capacity is reduced. The restaurants, hotels, mountain railways will only be able to offer around half of their capacity.

Are you worried that things will get tight?

No, I do not think so. You will be able to control it – with reservations. It will be a summer when you are well advised to make reservations in restaurants, hotels, trains or museums. In normal summer you can do something spontaneously. This will be less the case this year. The summer commandment is therefore: Reserve!

Speaking of protection concepts for restaurants and hotels: there is a lot of criticism from the industry. Do they make sense?

The protection concepts were worked out very carefully by the associations together with the BAG and make absolute sense. Now it is about gaining experience and also seeing where you should optimize the concepts. Over time, the rules for guests and businesses will be as natural as they are for shopping today.

What will be different this year?

The whole atmosphere will be different. People avoid each other. You maintain distance. We will also feel this social change during the holidays. The Swiss are very disciplined.

Everyone will vie for the Swiss guests. Is there a discount battle?

That would not be wise. The guests don’t expect it either. The crisis has shown how important local business is. We show solidarity with the local SMEs, for example with the hairdressers. We have all seen them go through below. The same solidarity will also be shown towards the restaurants and hotels, I am convinced.

Holidays in Switzerland: This is what the highest tourist expert recommends:

Do you think that all holiday regions will get a fair bit of inland tourism?

No. We cannot live on Swiss guests alone. We are heavily dependent on exports. 45 percent of our guests come from Switzerland in a normal year. That is a proud part that we are pleased about. But we don’t just fill our capacities with Switzerland. We need foreign guests. And they will be missing this summer. In autumn, winter and especially next year, when we are fully open again, we urgently need foreign guests. Otherwise, your failure cannot be compensated.

Would you like the borders to open earlier?

It’s not just Switzerland. The other countries also have to participate. Mutual trust is needed. Then the borders are opened faster. I hope that we do not have to wait until Europe as a whole opens the borders again, but that we can bilaterally agree with individual countries to open borders.

Germany or Austria, for example?

Germany is central to Swiss tourism. It is the largest country of origin for us. If the borders to the north were opened, it would be a blessing. The proportion of pragmatists among Germans is high. Many would come. I advocate not waiting too long. Because the competition doesn’t sleep. There will be an international marketing battle for guests. Everyone will stir the drum to limit the damage.

Tourism entrepreneur Samih Sawiris massively criticized the Federal Council’s measures. To prevent a few 100 deaths, billions would be destroyed. What do you say?

It is a trade-off between health and economy. I’m glad I don’t have to do this. I am impressed by the performance of our Federal Council, it seems to me that it is finding the measure with the gradual easing. Criticizing from the audience is always easy. I know that. I have 8.5 million volunteers. Every Swiss citizen knows as well as I how to do tourism in Switzerland properly.

Is there now a big bankruptcy wave?

I fear it, yes. We have carried out various surveys with our associations. Of around 4,000 companies, 23 percent stated that they would not get out of this crisis unscathed.

What does that mean for Switzerland as a tourist destination?

Tourists won’t feel that much. When one restaurant closes, another jumps into the breach. But there is great economic damage. Employees lose their jobs, unemployment rises. One can clearly say that it is the market that regulates this. But there are no normal circumstances at the moment! If someone is doing poorly, it is right to be ousted. But now it also hits flagship companies. Hoteliers, for example, who have put every franc in their house and perhaps have also taken out a loan. For beautiful rooms, clean bathrooms, a larger wellness facility. But now the income has completely dried up in one fell swoop, so that even this business is in trouble.

Many companies have poorly equipped themselves for bad times.

There are such hotels and restaurants. But investments in the infrastructure are essential! Nobody likes to sleep in an old, dusty hotel room. It is a fact: many hosts are now in crisis, even though they actually did exactly the right thing.

The parliament has now awarded Switzerland Tourism CHF 40 million. What do you do with it

It wasn’t decided until Wednesday. The framework conditions are still unclear. We are in discussion with the Federal Council and the administration to clarify the conditions attached to the money.

But it mainly flows into the application for Switzerland as a tourist destination

We want to promote demand. Both in Switzerland and abroad. The federal funds are part of the recovery plan, with which we want to get back to the level before Corona. The focus is first on Switzerland, then on the European countries and finally on the USA and Asia.

When will we reach the 2019 tourism year numbers again?

Not yet. I fear five years rather than three. The cut is so deep. In crises, the effect is always the same: it goes down quickly and steeply, up it slowly and with small steps. The pre-level in the mountains will be reached fastest, then the cities will follow and business tourism will go on for a very long time. These are often events with a lot of people. In addition, the technical possibilities show that many things also work digitally.

Switzerland should market itself as a hygienic holiday destination, it said. What do you mean with that?

We want to market Switzerland as a safe, clean and reliable holiday destination. Customers are unsettled. You have to regain confidence that you can travel safely in Switzerland. Hygiene and cleanliness are an important aspect. That is why the protection concepts are of great importance. We want to show that you can enjoy your vacation here – without fear of the virus.

Switzerland has been intoxicated in the growth of guests from China and India in recent years, while the number of European guests has decreased. A mistake?

No, that was not a mistake. In 2008 in the financial crisis and 2015 in the euro crisis, the European market literally collapsed. The European guests just didn’t come anymore. They were looking for cheaper destinations. We somehow had to compensate for the loss of European guests. We achieved this with the long-distance markets – primarily the USA, but also Asia. All markets have now dried up. Everyone is immediately dirty.

Especially tourists from Asia and overseas will come back much later. Do you have to adjust?

The focus must be on Europe in the near future. We want to win back the European guests. They are good for Switzerland because they stay longer and also travel to the lesser-known side valleys. The long-distance markets mainly focus on the hotspots.

The Swiss are critical contemporaries of domestic tourism. What must the offer be like that you drive home satisfied?

It hurts us when we are criticized by our compatriots. We – and I mean the more than 260,000 employees in the tourism industry – strive hard for hospitality, attractive offers and a good price-performance ratio. I can assure you that we will take special care of the Swiss this summer.

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