Switzerland’s Frostiness, Prices Put Chill on Tourism

The Californian swept his gaze across Zermatt’s spectacular valley up the Alpine slopes and on to the majestic, snow-capped Matterhorn.

“It’s a wonderful place, the best in Europe,” he said. “You just have to forget about the price.”

But visitors like Graham Quinn of San Diego, who put aside cost concerns in opting for a Swiss vacation, are becoming scarcer.

The strength of the Swiss franc--coupled with what critics contend is a weak Swiss welcome--is keeping more and more foreigners at home.

Even growing numbers of Swiss, seduced by cheap air fares and package tours, are heading for distant tropical beaches in preference to their native mountains and lakes.

Despite dream conditions, the winter skiing season was the worst in 15 years. There was a 6% drop in overnight stays compared with the 1993-94 season, with big declines in the numbers of visitors from the United States, Italy, Britain, Austria and France.

There are fears that worse is to come.

“It will be a catastrophic summer,” predicted Lorenz Schlaefli, an executive at the Swiss Hoteliers Assn.

Neighboring Austria also is suffering because of high prices that are chasing away Germans, Italians and traditional visitors to cheaper places.

In contrast, the British pound’s value has been more stable, and American tourists are leading a surge in visitors to that country. Britain says the number of foreign tourists is up about 25% this year.

The Swiss franc has strengthened against nearly all currencies.

In Ticino, an idyllic lake-dotted pocket near the border with Italy, the flow of Italian tourists has collapsed because of the weak lira.

Meanwhile, Zermatt and other resorts heavily dependent on American visitors have reported a wave of cancellations because of the slump in the dollar.

“We got twice as much for our money six years ago,” said Quinn, who fell in love with the views of the Matterhorn during his previous visit and returned with his wife and four sons.

The Swiss franc is worth about 87 cents today, compared with 48 cents a decade ago.

American visitors were the second biggest group last year, after the Germans. But the number of Americans staying at Swiss hotels has slumped dramatically, according to hotel check-ins, the only measure available. Fewer than 850,000 Americans checked into Swiss hotels last year, compared with more than 1.5 million in 1985.

The exchange rate has brought the crisis in the tourist industry to a head. But there are other problems.

A government-commissioned report last year by Nicolas Hayek, the marketer whose creation of the Swatch turned around the Swiss watch industry in the 1980s, concluded Switzerland has a boring and cold image.

This was echoed by a survey of likes and dislikes among European, North American and Japanese visitors published recently in the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.

Switzerland’s stunning scenery, spotlessness and reliability were the main pluses. But the frostiness of the natives and money-grabbing attitude of tourism businesses, as well as lack of night life, were criticized.

“Generally, Switzerland should become friendlier and more professional with guests,” said Helmut Biener, vice director of tourism for Zermatt.

“For example, if guests want pasta instead of french fries, there shouldn’t be a big problem or an extra charge like there often is now in restaurants,” he said.

An estimated one in 10 Swiss depends on tourism for a livelihood. Spending by foreign visitors and Swiss vacationing at home amounted to the equivalent of nearly $19 billion last year. Hotels recorded a total 33.2 million overnight stays, about half of them by foreigners.

Bowing to criticism that it was doing too little to help the tourism industry, the government has reduced a new sales tax on hotel bills to 3% from 6.5%.

Many resorts are looking for new ways to lure visitors.

Zeroatt is expanding facilities for summertime snowboarding in addition to skiing on its upper slopes, which remain snowy year-round.

And for those who want a break from climbing the Matterhorn--Switzerland’s most famous peak--there is now bungee jumping from a cable car up to the Little Matterhorn.

On the other side of the country, Laax is putting on international solar car races and bike races down the mountain.

St. Moritz--trying to live up to its “On top of the World” slogan--is holding “Old Timer” rallies of old cars through the mountain roads. It has also tracked down people with similar names to Moritz and invited them to a special Moritz day in September.

Many hotels are also testing new ideas--literary-culinary evenings, floating dinners on the lake. Those that can afford it are investing to meet growing demand for thermal baths and other health facilities.

Such changes will not have any immediate results in winning back lost business, said the hotel association’s Schlaefli. In the meantime, hotels will continue to disappear at the rate of about 100 a year.

“We grew fat and lazy with our success. We had it too good for too long and did too little,” Schlaefli said. “And now we’re trying to catch up.”