Tourist Attractions of Switzerland - Report Example

Tourist attraction INTRODUCTION Switzerland has been one of the leading travel stations in the world and has charmed several American travellers since the time of the famous legendary Grand tour. With its reputation in Heidi-like mountain village, après-ski chicness and exceptional world class hotels is famous among tourists, if one peels back the marketing veneer one will discover a multifaceted destination that exceeds the tourist-brochure hype and offers vast experiences to classy traveller (Becken S. a., 2007). Since Switzerland is a relatively small country, its tourist attraction sits are close to one another and can easily be accessed. Mountain resorts, forests, lakes, museums, castles and modern and prehistoric architecture makes this federal republic an exceptional tourist attraction site. The country also has a low rate of crime therefore making it a safe place for tourists. Some of the chosen historic sites include the following (Becken S. a., 2007). Zurich Zurich does not only lie in the heart of Europe but also in the hearts of people who made the city the leading destination in the country. It is situated in the northern shores of Lake Zurich and has a superb view of the snow-capped Alps on its horizon. Zurich has a diverse flair and a range of leisure activities that make it famous with travellers across the world. The reason for choosing this site is that its city has a distinct mixture of tourist attractions i.e. it has more than hundred art galleries, over 50 museums, shops that sell Zürich designs as well as global fashion labels. The city can be easily accessed by car, plane or train. International airport is situated 10-minute train drive from the downtown and Zürich’s Railway station is considered as a central European railroad centre (Peeters P. , 2007) Lake Geneva region This region is the fifth famous place in Switzerland and encompasses Montreux and Lauvaux which has two site listings of UNESCO World Heritage. Lausanne setting is so attractive and has hosted Olympic committee since 1914. The town is built on three hills that is being surrounded by slopes covered with vineyard (Goeverden, 2007). The town is dominated by cathedral viewed as the most exciting of prehistoric Gothic architecture filled with boutiques and cafes that shape the. The reason for choosing this site is that Lavaux is a perfect world of vineyard terraces that offer wonderful views and also produces fine wines. Engadin St. Moritz It is located in the mountainous region of Graubünden 1800m above the sea level and has the opportunity of getting 322 sunshine days in a year and enjoys a magnificent slight microclimate. Travellers are attracted by unspoiled nature, distinctive combination of chic atmosphere and true village tradition. The upper side of Engadin offers a remarkable mountain views with seemingly and endless stretch of Lake Plateau and a mystic quality in the light therefore making it an attractive site to be chosen (Gössling S. P.-P., 2007). Analysis of the Tourism Demand For the past 20 years, there has been diverse evolution of overnight stays in health establishments and hotels. In 1990, established hotels recorded a high rate of occupation. The demand of tourism in Switzerland has never been that high where it recorded a total of 37.5 million stays overnight. Nevertheless, there followed a negative trend from 1991 till 1996 where there was a drop in the overnight stays where 31 million overnight stays were registered. There was a drop of 17.4% as compared to that of 1990. There was a growth in demand from 1997 to 2000 where 35 million overnight stays were registered (Lässer, Travel Market Switzerland – Basic Report and Variables Overview., 2007). Despite the continuous growth of demand, there was another drop in 2003 which resulted to 32. 1 million overnight stays. Growth was realized in 2005(34.8 million), 2006(36.4 million) and in 2007 (37.3 million) overnight stays was recorded. However, there was a decline in demand from 2009 as a result of economic crisis that affected the hotel industry. Hotel establishments recorded an overnight stays of 35.96 million (WTTC, 2007)). In 2010, there was an upturn of demand where 36.2 million was recorded, making a rise of 1.7% as compared to 2009. This positive growth can be experienced for both Swiss and international demand though with different proportions. For instance, domestic visitors represented 43.5% of the total demand (15.8 million overnight stays). Foreign visitors accounted for 20. 4 million overnight stays In the case of supplementary accommodation, opposite situation was experienced for the trend of campsite occupancy as compared to that of the hotel industry in 2010. In real sense, with a total of 3.3 million night stays, there was a decline of 10.2% in demand in comparison of that of 2009. Local demand which represent 53.3% of the total demand, resulted to 1.7 million night stays, a reduction of 11.3% (WTTC, 2007)) Monthly change in demand In the hotel industry, there was an increase in demand of overnight stays in Switzerland in 2010 during the summer months than winter months as compared to 2009. For instance, the increase in the number of night stays was experienced in during the month of June. The other months also experienced the increase in the number of overnight stays with the exception of August (SJH, 2007) When it comes to supplementary accommodation, there has been a similar trend for campsites between summer and winter months. In 2010, only two months (February and March) experienced the increase in the number of overnight stays compared with same months in 2009 Analysis of the Tourism Supply During the year 2010, the statistics of tourist accommodation comprised on average 4827 health establishments and hotels in Switzerland, which corresponds to 245251 beds available and 128685 rooms. The scattering of the establishments varies depending on the tourist regions with the largest proportion being Graubünden followed by Valais and eastern Switzerland. On the other hand, the smallest portion of establishments include Fribourg region and Geneva region. According to statistics collected in 2010, the average capacity of a hotel was 51 beds. Nevertheless, Geneva had the leading number of beds with 116 beds per establishment followed by Zurich region with 68 beds and Graubünden with 59 beds (SJH, 2007). When it comes to supplementary accommodation, establishment distribution is slightly different from that of the hotels. During the survey carried out in 2010, it was found out that most of the establishments were in Valais, Bernese Oberland and Graubünden Change in supply In 2010, a total number of 14, 2815 rooms and 5477 establishments were surveyed in Switzerland. It was found that the number of establishments reduced as compared to 2009 while the number of rooms slightly increased. Nonetheless, this trend was not reflect nationally in all the tourist attraction sites. When it comes to establishments, only two regions saw the increase in 2010 when compared with 2009 i.e. Fribourg region experienced 10 additional establishments and Zurich region experienced one additional establishments. For the case of Valais, the surveyed establishments remained constant (Peeters P. V., 2007). The Bernese Oberland experienced the decline in the number of establishments with reduction of 12 units. As in the case of rooms, six tourist sites saw the decline of rooms in 2010 as compared to 2009. The regions that experienced the decline include Bernese Oberland, Ticino and Schweizer Mittelland. On the contrary, Zurich region experienced the greatest increase of 339 additional rooms. For a period of 10 years, the number of establishments that were surveyed reduced greatly. For instance, in 2000, the number of establishments surveyed in Switzerland totalled to 5880, equivalent to a decline of 403 units in 2010. Concerning the number of rooms, there has been a decline when compared to 2000, although it is not as much as that of the number of establishments. In addition, not all regions experienced the same trend (SJH, 2007). As a matter of fact, three regions experienced growth in the supply of both rooms and establishments. Synthesis Synthesis about Swiss tourism Tourism can be regarded as an immediate stage in the creation of goods and services or as final consumption by homes for the holidays, which through the spending of both local and foreign visitors creates revenue for many companies in various sectors of the economy. Value addition by tourism sector in Switzerland can be understood by the fact that the country has specialized for tourism field for several years. The country has the upper hand due to a vast competitive tourism centres which can only be copied at great expense. Nonetheless, introduction of new industries and emergence of service sector has made the tourism sector to lose its dominance in 19th century. Despite the challenges that the tourism sector has undergone, Swiss government through its parliament has reconsidered tourism as one of the strategic sectors of the economy (Goeverden, 2007) Despite the challenges faced by tourism sector in 80’s due to high exchange rates and poor structures, the sector still had positive impact in the economic growth and employment in the country. Swiss government has come up with a policy that promotes tourism in addressing the market failures. The policy also deregulates and offers favourable rates of taxation and infrastructure that promotes economic development. Since Swiss state is a co-producer and service provider, it has provided a well-developed vocational training system and has also subsidized railways (WTTC, 2007)). For instance, the government has developed a famous tourism brand name in the world commonly referred to as “Glacierexpress” that runs between St. Moritz and Zermatt. SWOT ANALYSIS Engadin St. Moritz St. Moritz is one of the leading holiday resorts in the world with elegant, chic and exclusive with multicultural atmosphere. It is located in the mountainous region of Graubünden 1800m above the sea level and has the opportunity of getting 322 sunshine days in a year and enjoys a magnificent slight microclimate. Travellers are attracted by unspoiled nature, distinctive combination of chic atmosphere and true village tradition. The upper side of Engadin offers a remarkable mountain views with seemingly and endless stretch of Lake Plateau and a mystic quality in the light therefore making it an attractive site to be chosen (Peeters P. , 2007). The region has 13 towns that complement each other, work together and support regional offers jointly-for instance inline skating, windsurfing marathons and has extensive cross country skiing trails and extensive network of hiking (Gössling S. , 2005). During winter times, St. Moritz has the opportunity to host winter tourism. The area hosts winter sports with a state-of-the-art infrastructure. Visitors traveling to the place are provided with visitor’s card that act as travel pass and entitles the owner to various discounts. Good infrastructure like the red trains transports visitors to surrounding tourist attraction sites like ski regions of Diavolezza The only challenge in this area is during the summertime which may not attract several visitors to the place. There is low demand of rooms are no tourists visiting the area. Zurich The site offers several sites to view. There is something amazing at every corner: historic squares, districts and schools, art works, schools, architectural highlights and much more. It does not only lie in the heart of Europe but also in the hearts of people who made the city the leading destination in the country (Becken S. , 2002). It is situated in the northern shores of Lake Zurich and has a superb view of the snow-capped Alps on its horizon. Zurich has a diverse flair and a range of leisure activities that make it famous with travellers across the world. The reason for choosing this site is that its city has a distinct mixture of tourist attractions i.e. it has more than hundred art galleries, over 50 museums, shops that sell Zürich designs as well as global fashion labels. The city can be easily accessed by car, plane or train. International airport is situated 10-minute train drive from the downtown and Zürich’s Railway station is considered as a central European railroad centre. The city has several museums and art galleries like the Kunshthaus and Swiss National Museum. In addition, the city also hosts one of the key theatres in the German speaking world (STV, 2006). The only challenge that can be experienced in this region is language barrier. Heavily touristic areas like St. Moritz have only Romansch and Swiss speakers. It is difficult for someone else to understand this language apart from the natives of the place Lake Geneva region This region is the fifth famous place in Switzerland and includes Montreux and Lauvaux which has two site listings of UNESCO World Heritage. Lausanne setting is so attractive and has hosted Olympic committee since 1914. The town is built on three hills that is being surrounded by slopes covered with vineyard (STV, 2006). The town is dominated by cathedral viewed as the most exciting of prehistoric Gothic architecture filled with boutiques and cafes that shape the. The reason for choosing this site is that Lavaux is a perfect world of vineyard terraces that offer wonderful views and also produces fine wines. Lake Geneva has perched steep hills that provides a view that is impressive for the modern tourists. Morges on the next stop provides a lakeside chateau houses a particular military museum and a huge army surplus store. On the northern part of Lausanne, there is a pool which is a source of attraction to tourists. This pool has been used by locals to bath for years since it contained a mineral baths. The presence of this pool provided an opportunity to attract visitors especially those who were hiking around the lake (Becken S. , 2002). References Becken, S. &. (2002). Understanding energy consumption patterns of tourist attractions and activities in New Zealand. . Tourism Management , 343-354. Becken, S. (2002). Tourism and transport in Switzerland - Implications for energy use. Lincoln University press. Becken, S. a. (2007). Tourism and Climate Change: Risks and Opportunities. London: Channel view puplications. Goeverden, C. D. (2007). Long distance travel in Europe: the potential of the train. London: Sage. Gössling, S. (2005). Global environmental consequences of tourism. 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