Ranking of the most hospitable countries in Europe: Switzerland is in last place

There are some prejudices surrounding the Swiss. One of them is that they are not exactly the friendliest people in the world. Prejudices often exist wrongly, but in this case there could be something to the cliché.

At least that is evident from a ranking by the holiday portal Holidu, in which the 25 most popular European holiday countries were assessed based on their hospitality – and in which Switzerland came in last place.

The following seven criteria were used for the evaluation:

Spain achieved the highest total score. Although English skills are quite low there, according to the rankings it is the most hospitable country in Europe with around 72 million tourists per year.

In addition to the high number of visitors, Spain also shines with its taxi service and the exceptionally friendly and helpful locals.

Above all, the Swiss lack a willingness to help: only 40 percent of respondents have helped a stranger in the past year. Moreover, according to the study, the Swiss taxi service is the worst of all the countries evaluated. Swiss English skills are also rated low, according to Holidu.

Switzerland can at least score points in one category: family-friendliness. Families with children are much more welcome here than in the German-speaking neighboring countries Germany and Austria.

However, the winner in the family-friendliness category is Italy. According to Holidu, families there “enjoy a warm and welcoming atmosphere, which is reflected in child-friendly facilities, cultural activities and a relaxed attitude towards the youngest travellers”.

Pickpocketing can really ruin your holiday. In Sweden you have to be particularly careful that nothing is stolen, because according to police statistics there is the greatest risk of such thefts: last year around 2,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants were registered in Sweden.

The countries where you can feel relatively safe are Albania, the Czech Republic and Turkey. There are fewer than 250 pickpockets per 100,000 inhabitants.

Our neighboring countries Germany (9th place) and Austria (8th place) score considerably better in the rankings than Switzerland. In Austria, for example, the level of English is high and the taxi drivers are very friendly.

Germany scores points elsewhere: there are numerous sights here (73 percent) that have received a five-star rating, for example Neuschwanstein Castle or Cologne Cathedral.

“20 Minutes” asked Switzerland Tourism how they assessed the ranking. There is no explicit comment on this research, but a media spokesperson emphasizes that their own statistics come to a different conclusion: “According to the largest guest survey in Swiss tourism, Tourism Monitor Switzerland, in 2017 more than 80 percent of respondents from all over the world said they were very satisfied with the hospitality in this country,” says media spokesperson André Aschwanden.

By the way: according to Tourism Monitor Switzerland, the Swiss themselves are more critical than foreign guests: 81.5 percent of local guests were satisfied with the hospitality in their own country. However, the share of tourists from abroad is 84.9 percent.

As is often the case with clichés and prejudices, the following ultimately applies: It is best if tourists get an idea for themselves of how hospitable Switzerland actually is.