Brochure on Jewish vacationers aims to make living together easier
Hotelleriesuisse and Switzerland Tourism are launching a brochure about Jewish guests. The aim is to prevent incidents like those that occurred in the canton of Graubünden from happening in the future.
Places such as Davos, Arosa, St. Moritz and Saas-Fee are very popular with Jewish guests, especially after the fasting day of Tisha Beav in the middle of the year. The Swiss tourism industry is delighted with the large number of guests - but Jewish culture and behavior often lead to misunderstandings with hosts or locals.
For example, a poster put up by the caretaker of a hotel made it into the world press and caused a storm of indignation. Jewish guests were urged in English to shower before and after bathing.
Letter again caused outrage abroad
Damage limitation was subsequently carried out, but the issue is by no means a thing of the past in Davos. How the Südostschweiz am Sonntag Beginning of August reports Reto Branschi, CEO of Davos Tourism, complained in a letter entitled "Jewish summer guests in Davos" that the behavior of ultra-Orthodox Jews would upset other guests - and that some of them would want to stay away from Davos in future for this reason. In the letter, Branschi openly and directly explained various misconduct issues and subsequently received support from the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities. According to Branschi, the problems explicitly concerned the behavior of ultra-Orthodox Jews from abroad: "It has nothing at all to do with religion, but with normal decency.
The letter, which was translated into Hebrew and posted in synagogues and hotels, was photographed and shared on social media, once again causing international outrage in international media.
Brochure to improve the situation from 2019
Now a new brochure aims to defuse the explosive situation and prevent misunderstandings in future. How the SonntagsZeitung writes, such information material already exists for guests from other regions - such as China, Russia and the Gulf States. Hoteliers learn, for example, that Chinese guests should not be offered rooms on the fourth floor because it brings bad luck.
The tourism associations want to work together with the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities and other Jewish representatives to create the specific content. Last week, for example, the relevant parties are said to have already met with the Valais tourism industry.
The brochure should be ready in time for the next summer season. It will not only deal explicitly with the behavior of Jewish-Orthodox guests. (hae)
