Swiss hotels see increase in overnight stays
The Swiss hotel industry seems to be picking up; the first half of 2010 saw more overnight stays than during the same period last year.
According to figures released by the Federal Statistics Office on Wednesday, there were 17.5 million overnight stays between January and June. That shows a 2.1 per cent increase compared with those months in 2009.
There was a 2.9 per cent rise in guests from Switzerland, who accounted for 7.5 million of those stays. There was a slight decline in European guests: 0.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, the number of Asian guests is growing, with 16 per cent more than in the first half of 2009. In June 2010 there were 32 per cent more Asian visitors than in June 2009.
Most came from China, but many were from Japan, India and the Gulf States.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.