Swiss tourism in danger: Federal Council plans drastic cuts!

Swiss tourism in danger: Federal Council plans drastic cuts!

Swiss tourism is facing challenging times as the Federal Council is planning significant cuts in tourism funding as part of the “Relief Package 27”. These savings affect key funding instruments such as Switzerland Tourism, Innotour and sporting events, which is causing concern in the industry. HotellerieSuisse warns of “disproportionate cuts” that could endanger the funding structure in the long term and fears that competitiveness in international tourism will suffer as a result.

Specific savings include a planned reduction in federal funding for recurring sporting events by 5 million francs annually. The Federal Council justifies these measures with the assumption that such events could become sustainable in the long term. In this context, the discussion about the VAT rate for accommodation is being taken up again. In the proposal, the Federal Council has stipulated that the contribution to Switzerland Tourism should remain stable at 233 million francs for the years 2024 to 2027, but this is considered insufficient in view of the above-mentioned cuts.

Risks for the tourism industry

The intended cuts could particularly jeopardize innovative projects in the areas of sustainable tourism, digitalization and new offers in peripheral regions. The Federal Council sees itself in a balancing act between budget discipline and the need to maintain tourism promotion. While the industry is mobilizing to protest against the announced cuts, the German approach to tourism promotion, characterized by various SME, regional and structural policy programs, has already proven that a variety of support instruments can be effective. In Austria there are clear, institutionalized structures for promoting tourism, such as the Austrian Hotel and Tourism Bank (ÖHT).

In comparison, Switzerland is pursuing a centralized funding strategy, which could now be shaken by the planned savings. The association recognizes the importance of a debt brake and supports the goal of healthy government finances, but sees the need for sufficient funds to be able to react flexibly to market changes. Reactions to the cuts are varied; For example, a 20% cut in Switzerland Tourism would severely limit the sustainable marketing of the country and the distribution of visitor flows.

Conclusion and outlook

The cuts could not only hinder the necessary innovation in the dynamic tourism sector, but also have a long-term negative impact on the new regional policy (NRP). The NRP mobilized five times as much investment in the funding period from 2016 to 2020 and any adjustments could lead to a depletion of this fund. The evaluation of the Innotour funding instrument showed positive results; Nevertheless, there is potential for improvement, especially in knowledge transfer and the documentation of project findings. It is clear that government funding makes sense as a stimulus for innovation in tourism, but is not the only solution.

Overall, it remains to be seen how the industry will respond to the specific challenges. The discussion about the funding structure is far from over, and it is to be hoped that through constructive dialogue, solutions can be found that will ensure the competitiveness of Swiss tourism. Further information and details about the planned savings can be found at Hotel inside and HotellerieSuisse.