Lucerne wants to stem the flood of tourists with a new fee
Lucerne is struggling with the tour buses that bring crowds of tourists into the city. A new fee is expected to improve the situation.
How the SonntagsZeitung reported in the current issue, the residents of Lucerne are increasingly annoyed by the coaches that clog up the streets and bring tour groups into the old town. The main issue here is Schwanenplatz. The watch stores located there are popular destinations for Asian guests. The cars are currently allowed to drive directly to the square to let the shoppers disembark.
Now the city of Lucerne wants to take action to curb the problem. According to Tourism Director Marcel Perren, a charge is currently being considered for tourist buses that want to stop at Schwanenplatz. It is possible that it will vary depending on the time of day and range between 20 and 120 francs, says Perren to the SonntagsZeitung. The SP came up with the idea for the fee in the middle of the year.
General fee required
Other voices - such as Lucerne hotelier Fritz Erni - are even calling for a general charge for all cars that want to visit Lucerne. Former Switzerland Tourism Director Jürg Schmid also thinks this is a good idea - entrance fees are a good way to regulate the number of visitors to an attraction. "High prices are the most effective tourism stopper - Switzerland has clearly experienced this," he says. He talks about "overtourism", which is only a problem in some places, but needs to be solved there. Lucerne would do well to manage the flow of tourists better, otherwise the mood will change, he warns. This is also the case in Interlaken. If no action is taken, this will have an impact on the travel experience of the other guests. The problem mainly relates to group tourism.
Steering via advertising
However, tourism director Perren is opposed to this - they reject admission charges for tourists and want to remain an open, hospitable town. Daniel Sulzer, Director of Interlaken Tourism, also considers entrance fees to be "completely inappropriate". He is finding other ways to steer the flow: two years ago, Interlaken began to reduce advertising for the summer season. Instead, advertising for the remaining three seasons has been increased. New winter offers have also been created.
Switzerland Tourism is more open to the idea of general admission prices. Schmid's successor, Martin Nydegger, considers price control to be a possible instrument.
A completely different approach to solving the unsatisfactory situation at Schwanenplatz is being pursued by the Initiative "Metro Lucerne - for an attractive Schwanenplatz": The construction of a metro is intended to solve the parking problem and the high volume of traffic. The initiative has been passed and will be submitted to the electorate. (hae)
