Youth hostels see higher demand in 2007
Switzerland's 58 youth hostels registered 912,000 nights spent by tourists last year, a rise of 4.4 per cent compared with 2006.
In its study of annual tourism results, the Federal Statistics Office also reported that the country's 279 camping sites recorded 2.8 million nights.
It said Swiss visitors accounted for more than half of the stays – 58 per cent in hostels and 52 per cent in camping sites.
The Statistics Office noted that people spent an average of two nights in hostels, lower than the average stay in hotels (2.3 nights).
Nights spent in camping sites by visitors from Germany and the Netherlands took 34 per cent of the total, up from 32 per cent in 2006.
The Statistics Office pointed out that the demand for camping sites was dependent on the weather. For example, the month of April had been exceptionally dry and sunny, resulting in an increase of 19 per cent compared with the previous year.
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