4 examples of how the cantons deal with growing tourist crowds

Since Corona, the Swiss have at least learned to travel through their own country again. And since the virus slowly disappeared from the minds of the world’s population, European guests in particular are increasingly drawn back to the Alpine country of Switzerland.

Swiss tourism is almost back to its 2019 figures, Switzerland Tourism Director Martin Nydegger told the SRF. Compared to last year, overnight stays in Swiss hotels have increased by 35 percent.

What is good for tourism as a whole causes headaches elsewhere: there are isolated cases of overtourism in Switzerland. André Aschwanden from Switzerland Tourism, however, puts things into perspective: “Switzerland is neither a mass destination nor a cheap destination: we don’t have the necessary capacity in terms of accommodation or transport infrastructure. So there was and is no nationwide overtourism in Switzerland, but only individual bottlenecks that are limited in time and place.”

Such bottlenecks occur, for example, in the canton of Valais, which has many tourist attractions to offer, including the Blausee in Arolla, Lake Tanay and the hot springs of Combioula. As “Wallis Promotion” announces on request, there is no selfie ban so far. “Nevertheless, we clearly see a certain form of oversaturation in these places and it cannot be ruled out that measures will ever result from this.”

Overtourism risks damaging nature and hikers may also be disturbed by the ever-increasing number of influencers. Therefore, they rely on paid and limited on-site parking and promote year-round offers to spread the tourist volume across all four seasons.

The canton of Graubünden takes a different approach. He uses rangers to educate visitors about its sensitive nature. “They point out important behavioral tips to guests, sensitize them to the careful handling of nature and answer questions about flora and fauna,” says Yves Luetolf, member of the board of directors of “Graubünden Ferien”, on request.

In Graubünden, the Rhine Gorge and various mountain lakes are major tourist attractions. At Lake Cauma, for example, the number of visitors is already so large that further measures have been taken. The long-standing entrance fee was increased to CHF 19 in 2021. According to Martina Calonder, the media responsible for the destination “Flims Laax Falera”, a maximum of 1700 people per day are allowed to visit the lake during the high season between the end of May and the end of August.

Ticino tourism also sometimes struggles with the high number of visitors, as “Ticino Turismo” reports. Central to the challenges were traffic-related problems, which would occur, for example, at the Locarno Film Festival or generally during the summer and holiday months.

However, Ticino Turismo and the cantonal authorities place relatively little importance on restrictive measures such as bans. “We try much more to respond to visitor flows with an adjustment of the offer and targeted campaigns.”

For example, the car parks at Lavertezzo in the Verzasca Valley have been expanded and reorganized to discourage visitors from parking wildly. Another guiding measure is the “Ticino Ticket”: anyone who spends the night in Ticino, whether in a hotel or on a campsite, can use public transport for free throughout the canton. In addition, many recreational and cultural facilities would offer discounts to cardholders. “So we try to steer and persuade rather than intervene to regulate.”

When it comes to where the tourist hotspots in Switzerland are, you won’t get any further than the canton of Lucerne. In an article on this topic, SRF mentions two of a total of three tourist hotspots in the canton of Lucerne: the city itself and Mount Rigi, which lies at the bottom of Lucerne and Schwyz.

As the inhabitants of Lucerne are increasingly affected by the large tourist crowds in their own city, the city has committed itself to determining the direction in which tourism in the city should develop sustainably as part of the “Tourist Vision Lucerne 2030”. A pilot project is currently underway to measure visitor frequency.

Meanwhile, “Luzern Tourismus” responded to Watson’s request as follows: “We are not aware of any restrictive measures to ‘get rid’ of guests. All visitors are welcome and it is nice if they can share their memories of Lucerne with friends and acquaintances.”