Supplementary accommodation in 2020 Supplementary accommodation in 2020: overnight stays fell by 11.3%, campsite demand rose sharply
Supplementary accommodation with 6.6% growth in 2022
14.06.2021 - In a 2020 marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, 14.8 million overnight stays were registered for supplementary accommodation. This represents an 11.3% decline compared with 2019. Domestic demand rose by 3.8% to 11.9 million, with domestic guests accounting for 80.3% of demand. In contrast, the number of overnight stays by foreign visitors fell by 44.4% to 2.9 million. European guests registered 2.8 million (–35.7%) overnight stays, accounting for the largest share in overnight stays by foreign visitors. These are some of the latest findings from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
When added to the hotel statistics these findings provide results for all tourist accommodation in Switzerland. In 2020, 38.5 million overnight stays were registered in Switzerland, corresponding to a decline of 31.5% compared with 2019. Domestic visitors registered 28.3 million overnight stays (–3.7%), foreign visitors 10.3 million (–61.9%)
Only small decline in overnight stays in holiday homes
In 2020, commercially-run holiday homes accounted for the majority of overnight stays in supplementary accommodation (48.4%). With an annual total of 7.2 million overnight stays, demand fell by 1.3% compared with 2019. Domestic demand totalled 5.5 million overnight stays (+26.4% compared with the previous year) and foreign demand 1.7 million (–42.2%). More than 95% of overnight stays by foreign visitors were by visitors from Europe (1.6 million; –31.7%).
In 2020, the average length of stay in commercially-run holiday homes was 6.6 nights. Among the seven major regions, the Lake Geneva region saw the strongest demand with 2.8 million overnight stays, followed by Eastern Switzerland with 2.5 million overnight stays.
Stays in collective accommodation plummet by 39%
With a decline of 39.0% to 3.4 million overnight stays in 2020, collective accommodation bore the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic. Demand fell sharply, among both Swiss guests (3.0 million overnight stays; –34.3%) and foreign visitors (450,000; –58.8%). Visitors from Europe represented the greatest share in foreign demand (92.1%) with 414 000 overnight stays (–48.6%). The average length of stay in collective accommodation was 2.5 nights. With 1.0 million overnight stays, Eastern Switzerland held top position among the major regions.
Strong growth at campsites
Despite the officially imposed closure in spring 2020, campsites registered 4.2 million overnight stays – 11.1% more than in the previous year. This was mainly because the number of overnight stays in the months of July to October rose by 33.1% in comparison with the same period of the previous year. Taking the whole year into account, domestic guests accounted for 3.4 million overnight stays, corresponding to an increase of 33.9%. Foreign visitors (99.3% of whom came from Europe), registered 760 000 overnight stays (–36.8%). The average length of stay was 3.2 overnight stays in 2020. With 973 000 overnight stays, the Espace Mittelland was the major region with the greatest number of overnight stays at campsites, followed by the Lake Geneva region (967 000).
You will find further information such as tables in the press releases in German, French and Italian.
Download press release
Other languages
Associated documents
Supplementary accommodation in 2020
