Swiss Tourism: Importance, Problems and Solutions – Tourism Case Study of Switzerland (Senior 3 Geography) | Ganzaa

Tourism Case Study of Switzerland

Lessons

Senior 3 · Geography

Tourism Case Study of Switzerland

3 lessons

Lesson 3 of 3

Swiss Tourism: Importance, Problems and Solutions

30 min

Let's begin

On 28 May 2025 a huge mass of ice and rock broke away from the Birch Glacier above the village of Blatten in the Valais and buried most of the village. Its 300 or so inhabitants had been evacuated days earlier, after scientists saw the mountain moving. The disaster showed how a warming climate is changing the Alps that Swiss tourism depends on. Tourism is important to Switzerland, especially to its mountain villages, but it faces serious problems. How is the country responding?

Definition

Overtourism: too many visitors in one place at the same time, harming the environment, residents' lives and the visitors' own experience. Seasonality: the rise and fall of tourist numbers with the seasons. Sustainable tourism: tourism that protects the environment and local communities while remaining profitable over the long term.

Importance of tourism to Switzerland

Foreign exchange: foreign visitors spent CHF 19.6 billion in Switzerland in 2024 (FSO, tourism balance of payments, 2025).
Value added and jobs: tourism created a record CHF 23.8 billion of gross value added in 2024 (FSO, provisional), with jobs in hotels, restaurants, transport, ski schools and guiding.
Life in the mountains: in Alpine cantons such as Valais and Graubünden, tourism keeps villages alive and slows the movement of young people to the cities.
Infrastructure: railways, roads, cable cars, water and power built for tourists also serve residents.
Markets for local products: cheese, meat, wine and crafts sold to hotels and visitors.
Culture and image: tourism helps preserve traditions and promotes Switzerland's image, which supports its exports such as watches and chocolate.

Problems facing Swiss tourism

Problem	Solution
Climate change: shrinking glaciers, less reliable snow at lower resorts, more rockfalls and glacier collapses	Snowmaking and moving skiing to higher slopes; developing summer and all-year activities; hazard mapping, monitoring and early evacuation, as at Blatten
Natural hazards: avalanches, landslides, floods	Avalanche barriers, protective forests, warning services, closing routes when danger is high
High prices because of the strong Swiss franc and high wages	Offer high quality and value; packages and passes such as rail passes; target visitors who will pay more
Overtourism at famous viewpoints and villages, crowded trains and roads	Spread visitors to less-known places and seasons; booking systems and fees at hotspots (Iseltwald began charging for photos on a famous lakeside jetty in 2023)
Dependence on foreign visitors, shown when COVID-19 cut foreign hotel nights from 21.6 million (2019) to 7.3 million (2020) (FSO)	Promote domestic tourism, which held up far better (Figure 1); attract guests from many countries
Seasonality: busy winters and summers, quiet spring and autumn	Events, conferences and wellness holidays in the quiet seasons
Environmental damage: ski runs, cable cars, traffic and second homes in the mountains	Car-free resorts such as Zermatt; public transport; the "Swisstainable" programme of Switzerland Tourism (from 2021); limits on second homes (approved by voters in 2012)
Shortage of staff in hotels and restaurants	Apprenticeships and hotel schools; better pay and conditions; workers from other European countries
Competition from Austria, France, Italy and long-haul destinations	Marketing, innovation and quality

Worked example

Worked example 1: reading Figure 1. By what percentage did foreign guests' hotel nights fall from 2019 to 2020, and by what percentage did Swiss residents' nights fall?

Foreign: (21.6 − 7.3) ÷ 21.6 × 100 = 14.3 ÷ 21.6 × 100 ≈ 66.2%. Swiss: (17.9 − 16.4) ÷ 17.9 × 100 = 1.5 ÷ 17.9 × 100 ≈ 8.4%. (The FSO, using unrounded figures, reports 66.1% and 8.6%.) Domestic tourism protected the industry when borders closed.

Worked example

Worked example 2: snowline and resorts. Suppose a warming of 2 °C pushes the reliable snowline up by about 300 m for each 1 °C (illustrative rate). A resort's ski slopes run from 1,200 m to 1,600 m, and today the snowline is at 1,100 m. Will the resort still have reliable snow?

Rise = 2 × 300 = 600 m, so the snowline moves to 1,100 + 600 = 1,700 m, above the resort's top at 1,600 m. The resort would lose reliable natural snow and must use snowmaking, move higher or change to summer activities.

Warning

Snowmaking is not a free solution. Making artificial snow uses a lot of water and electricity and works only when it is cold enough. Mention its costs when you offer it as a solution.

Tip

Lessons for Rwanda. Switzerland shows the value of domestic tourism, of training hospitality workers, of spreading visitors across seasons and places, and of watching natural hazards closely; in Rwanda, landslides and floods in the rainy seasons are the hazards to plan for.

DW News: could Switzerland's glaciers disappear? As you watch, note how glacier loss affects tourism, water and safety.

✦

Practice

Define overtourism and seasonality.
Give five ways in which tourism is important to Switzerland.
Explain how climate change threatens Swiss tourism.
Using Figure 1, calculate the total hotel nights in 2020 and the percentage fall from 2019.
Describe three solutions to overtourism used or proposed in Switzerland.
Why did domestic tourism fall much less than foreign tourism in 2020?
Explain why car-free resorts such as Zermatt help sustainable tourism.
"Rwanda's tourism faces the same problems as Switzerland's." Discuss, giving similarities and differences.

Show answersHide answers

Overtourism: too many visitors in one place at the same time, harming the environment, residents and the experience. Seasonality: the rise and fall of tourist numbers with the seasons.
Any five: foreign exchange; value added; jobs; keeping mountain villages alive; infrastructure; markets for local products; preserving culture; promoting Switzerland's image.
Glaciers shrink and lose their appeal; snow becomes unreliable at lower resorts; melting permafrost and ice cause rockfalls and collapses (Blatten, 2025) that threaten villages and routes.
2020: 16.4 + 7.3 = 23.7 million. Fall: (39.6 − 23.7) ÷ 39.6 × 100 ≈ 40.2%; the FSO, using unrounded figures, reports 40.0%.
Any three: spreading visitors to less-known places and seasons; booking systems; fees at hotspots (Iseltwald jetty); limiting coaches or cars; promoting public transport.
Borders closed and international flights stopped, so foreign visitors could not come; Swiss residents could not travel abroad either, so many holidayed at home.
They cut air pollution, noise and traffic, protect the mountain environment and make the resort more pleasant, so visitors keep coming without damaging what they come for.
Similarities: dependence on foreign visitors (COVID-19 hit both); natural hazards (landslides, floods); need for skilled staff; competition. Differences: Rwanda's main issues include long-haul access and protecting wildlife; Switzerland's include glacier loss, snow and high prices. Reach a judgement.

1Importance of tourism to Switzerland

2Problems facing Swiss tourism

Importance of tourism to Switzerland

Problems facing Swiss tourism