Avenir Suisse predicts the end of Swiss winter tourism
In just a few years, winter tourism in Switzerland could disappear, leaving the mountain regions largely deserted. According to the SonntagsBlick, this is the conclusion reached by an analysis conducted by the think tank Avenir Suisse on behalf of Switzerland Tourism.
The reasons cited are climate change, digitalization and the aging of society. According to the study, it is possible in another scenario that winter tourism will make a comeback in the next 20 to 30 years. More realistic, however, according to tourism experts, are forecasts of a collapse in demand and the erosion of the tourism infrastructure in the mountains.
Jürg Stettler, head of the Institute of Tourism Economics at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, told the newspaper: "The negative factors clearly outweigh the positive." He expects a negative spiral, at the end of which skiing will disappear as a popular sport. He therefore pleads for a radical rethink and the promotion of mountain tourism in summer.
