Switzerland Tourism: Switzerland should treat Chinese tourists with respect

There have been isolated reports in recent days that Chinese tour groups have been turned away from various Swiss restaurants. The online portal Zentralplus, for example, reported on Monday about an Asian restaurant in Lucerne that does not currently want to serve Chinese guests due to protective measures against the coronavirus.

As the Sonntagszeitung newspaper writes in its current issue, Switzerland Tourism is now warning landlords, hoteliers and mountain railway operators not to discriminate against Chinese tourists. The Sonntagszeitung and Sonntagsblick write that the Swiss are distancing themselves from Chinese tourists out of fear of the virus and even treating them like lepers in some cases. Switzerland Tourism now wants to send out a signal that Switzerland and its tourism industry will continue to be hospitable to Chinese tourists, just like all other tourists.

Swiss tourism expects losses

At the weekend, the Chinese government decided to stop group travel at home and abroad, which will also have an impact on the tourism industry in Switzerland. Destinations such as Interlaken, for which Chinese tourists are the most important group of foreign visitors, could suffer particularly badly as a result.

Switzerland Tourism is expecting a drop in Chinese tourists of between thirty and fifty percent in the coming weeks, according to the Sonntagszeitung. This means that in the worst case scenario, 50,000 hotel overnight stays, corresponding to an estimated CHF 19 million in tourism revenue, would be missing in February, as ST boss Martin Nydegger told the Sonntagszeitung. However, as it is currently difficult to predict how the situation will develop, it is possible that these estimates are still too optimistic.