Perhaps more than anywhere else, the covid-129 pandemic is having a severe impact on the city of Geneva. The City of Calvin is not only Switzerland's second-largest financial and banking centre, after Zurich. Above all, it is an international meeting place, with the presence of its international institutions. Nearly 82% of all overnight stays in Geneva come from foreign guests compared with 69.7% in Zurich and 63.8% in Basel.
The coronavirus and the closure of the borders have therefore done a lot of damage to the tourism sector, particularly business tourism. The city had to give up hosting 300 international meetings and events because of the pandemic.This has resulted in losses of hundreds of millions of Swiss francs for the sector.
Geneva's business tourism in disarray
In an interview with a Swiss news website, Thierry Lavalley, President of the Geneva Hotel Association and General Manager of the Grand Hôtel Kempinski, 75% of overnight stays in the city come from business tourism.
In March, the Paris Motor Show, a major event in Europe with over 600,000 participants, was cancelled at the last minute. And the 2021 edition will also be cancelled, with many exhibitors preferring to wait until 2022. The show generates some 11 million Swiss francs in economic spin-offs.
The extent of the damage is best illustrated by the figures for overnight stays published in August by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Overnight stays for the whole country fell by 47.5% in the first half of 2020 (including 60% for foreign overnight stays).
But in Geneva, we're seeing a real collapse. The total number of overnight stays in the French-speaking metropolis fell by 60.1%. This represents 616,000 overnight stays between January and June. For the same period in 2019, the figure was still 1.54 million.
In May, the occupancy rate in hotels barely reached 15%. However, there was a partial recovery with the reopening of borders with Schengen countries.
By the end of June, almost half of Geneva's hotels had still not reopened. As a result, many luxury hotels are on their last legs. This is the case of the Richemond, a prestigious address since 1875, which is closing its doors next week. No reopening date has been announced.
100 Swiss francs to boost tourism?
In a bid to attract visitors - including business travellers - Geneva has launched a special offer valid until the end of the year. Since the beginning of July, it has been offering its Geneva Gift Card for anyone booking at least two nights in the city.
A card is issued for every room booked. The card applies to any type of hotel - including a "one-star" category. Establishments simply have to be approved by the canton of Geneva. Around sixty establishments are taking part in this promotion.
The card is given to the recipient when they check in at their accommodation. DWith a value of CHF 100, the Geneva Gift Card can be used until 31 December 2020.. It can be used to pay for restaurants, services or visits, including to the city's museums.
Visitors can use their card several times up to the famous limit of 100 Swiss francs. The establishment debits the amount directly from the card each time a service is paid for. The list of participating hotels and service providers is available on the Geneva Tourist Office website.
