Tourism In Switzerland – An Important Sector Of The Economy
Tourism in Switzerland plays a much more important role than previously expected. It is one of the most important sectors of the Swiss national economy and who would have thought that one in twelve employed people owes their job directly or indirectly to this sector.
Various industrial sectors benefit from tourism. The Swiss Tourist Association (STV) has published a brochure in collaboration with the “Bund”, in which all numbers are presented. Swiss Tourist Association Switzerland Tourism made its debut in Switzerland about 140 – 160 years ago. Impossible to forget that the first conquerors of the Matterhorn largely contributed to the fact that Switzerland was “discovered” as a country for various forms of recreation. As far as the Matterhorn is concerned, since 1857 several unsuccessful attempts have been made to climb this mountain, mostly from the Italian side. The Englishman Edward Whymper once fell for over 60 meters. In 1862 John Tyndall was the first to scale the southwestern shoulder, now called the Pic Tyndall, with the guides Bennen, Anton Walter, Jean-Jacques and Jean-Antoine Carrel. The further ascension alongside the Lion Ridge seemed impossible to them.
Whymper also judged this to be unfeasible. He therefore tried to persuade his friend Jean-Antoine Carrel to scale the mountain from the Zermatt side. He however insisted on climbing from the Italian side.
In July 1865 Whymper learned by chance from an innkeeper in Breuil that Carrel had returned to the Lion Ridge, without notifying Whymper. Whymper felt betrayed and hurried to Zermatt to assemble a group, in order to give it a thorough try across the Hörnli Ridge. The man who scaled the Matterhorn the most often was Ulrich Inderbinen. He reached the summit a total of 371 times, the last time when he was 89 years old. At the turn of the century the first schools of hotel management were opened in Switzerland, as this sector of the economy started to develop continuously. There were some visionaries that came to the conclusion that guests would need to be well and professionally received and entertained. Jacques Tschumi and César Ritz knew exactly what was necessary, when people travel the world – nothing could be left to chance. It needs organization, which has to be learned. Tourism in Switzerland is in third position of all export sectors. Only the metal, engineering and chemical industries make higher export profits than tourism. Most tourists use different kinds of transport. They can rely on one of the densest railway networks in the world. Around one fifth of the Swiss travelers for pleasure and business with at least one overnight stay choose the train. 35% of the holiday guests from abroad arrive by plane. Swiss airlines cover 58,2% of air traffic on the country’s airports.
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