Swiss less inclined to travel to the US, Trump drives away desire
Keystone-SDA
Swiss travel agencies report a drop in demand for travel to the United States, a traditionally popular destination among Swiss residents.
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Customers seem to be reacting to the policies of US President Donald Trump: they appear more hesitant and are turning to alternative destinations.
The development of the dollar/franc exchange rate and special offers on airline tickets would in itself make travelling to the US very attractive at the moment. But in the Trump era, crossing the Atlantic does not appeal to everyone.
Some 380,000 Swiss travellers visited the US in 2024, according to data from Visit USA (Vusa), which promotes the US as a tourist destination, according to news agency AWP. Between 310,000 and 330,000 people are expected this year.
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“I personally believe that the bonus of credit and sympathy for the US has been exhausted for the first time since the Trump presidency and that there will be a negative impact on travel,” said Vusa president Heinz Zimmermann. Before the pandemic, the number was around half a million, “a very significant figure given the size of Switzerland”.
In his opinion, without the Trump effect, the 400,000 mark would probably have been surpassed without any problems in 2025.
Exchange rate
The determining factor, however, is the exchange rate. “Over the past 20 years we have observed that demand for the US is more dependent on the dollar/franc rate than on the president in office,” Zimmermann explained. After surpassing CHF0.90 per dollar in January, the exchange rate is now around CHF0.82, increasing the purchasing power of the Swiss abroad.
The expected rise in US inflation could also put pressure on household budgets and push down the prices of US hotels and tourist services, sectors that are largely driven by domestic demand. Developments in the coming months will be decisive.
“In March we saw a drop in new bookings, but the situation picked up in April, with a slight increase,” Zimmermann said.
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Is it possible to catch up on bookings? Travel agencies are in a prime position to keep their finger on the pulse of demand, since more than half of all trips to the US (56%) from Switzerland are booked through one of them: the Dertour group reports a drop in demand of around 15% in recent months.
“The drop mainly affects new bookings, while trips already booked, particularly for summer and autumn, have not been affected at all,” a spokesperson tells AWP. “General interest in the destination has tended to decline.”
Several travellers who have already booked are also increasingly uncertain: many are asking questions about entering the country in the context of the tightening of migration policy. On this point, however, Zimmermann is categorical: “Between January and April, 113,404 travellers entered the US from Switzerland and the refusal rate is 0.002%.”
Alternative destinations
Alternative destinations are on the horizon. For Dertour, the demand for Canada is encouraging. Since this country “is a very popular destination for travellers in motorhomes or rental cars, we interpret these figures as a possible shift in demand northwards”, explains the press officer.
According to Zimmermann, American destinations that are less associated in the collective imagination with the United States, although they are part of it, such as Alaska and Hawaii, could also benefit from a shift in demand.
To stimulate demand and fill aircraft, airlines are intervening with price reductions. At SWISS, the main carrier together with United for direct flights from Switzerland to the United States, it is possible to fly to New York at the end of July, at the height of the season, for around CHF450 ($550) from Geneva. From Zurich, direct flights to San Francisco and Miami cost just over CHF600 for the former and CHF850 for the latter. New York, California and Florida are the main destinations for Swiss tourists, ahead of Hawaii, Alaska and Nevada.
For Zimmermann, flight prices have fallen for two reasons: on the one hand, capacity for US destinations has increased continuously since the end of the pandemic, so competition between airlines has intensified, and on the other hand, customer demand is falling.
“Over the past three months, ticket prices to the US have fallen dramatically in response to weakening demand,” confirms the Dertour spokesperson.
Translated from Italian by DeepL/ts
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