Most Swiss hoteliers are cautiously optimistic about the coming winter season. Especially in the Alpine regions, businesses are confident. However, increased costs are likely to weigh on margins.
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Around 56% of Swiss hoteliers expect turnover in the 2024/25 winter season to be the same as in the previous year, according to a statement issued by the Hotelleriesuisse association on Monday. However, this would represent stagnation at a high level, especially as the number of overnight stays reached a high of 18 million in the previous year. Around a quarter of those surveyed expect a further increase.
Confidence is particularly high in the Alpine regions, where one in three businesses is expecting higher turnover. This forecast is supported by the hope of good weather and snow conditions. In contrast, businesses in urban and rural regions are comparatively cautious.
Cost pressure
High costs are causing problems for the industry. Looking back, 55% of those surveyed reported lower margins during the last summer season. The majority of establishments were therefore only able to pass on some of the increased costs to guests. Hoteliers cited higher staff costs as the most important cost driver, followed by higher energy prices and inflation in general.
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This coming winter only a minority are likely to succeed in adjusting prices to the higher cost base: only just under a third of establishments intend to increase prices, compared to half of them in the last survey.
Now half are planning to keep prices the same and around 15% want to reduce prices. According to the study, price adjustments due to demand play a secondary role in the increases, while they are the main reason for planned reductions.
Lack of staff
According to the association, another major problem for hoteliers is the continuing shortage of staff. A clear majority of respondents named this as the biggest challenge for the industry.
Changes in the composition of guests and the short-term nature of bookings, which had a negative impact on planning reliability, were also high on the barometer of concerns. According to the survey, climate change also poses major challenges for the industry.
According to the press release, around 160 members of the Hotelleriesuisse association took part in the annual survey. They were surveyed between October 25 and 31, 2024.
Translated from German by DeepL/jdp
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