Tourism in Switzerland Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Tourism in Switzerland - Dissertation Example It is nearly incontestable that people across the world always seek to have new experiences and learn new things; tourism usually provides the best opportunity to enable people achieve this end. Its tourism infrastructure is highly developed, particularly in the cities and mountainous regions. Tourists are attracted to Switzerland’s landscapes and Alpine climate. Also, being one of the great and diverse commercial hubs in the world, tourists find Switzerland a preferable destination Euromonitor International (2011). Tourism plays a very crucial role in Switzerland’s economy accounting to more than 4% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) OECD (2011). Besides, it plays a very crucial role in creating employment opportunities especially in the rural areas. Just like in most countries across the world, tourism in Switzerland is impacted by external environmental factors namely political, economic, socio- cultural, and technological among others. Currency fluctuation is a maj or economic factor that greatly impacts on tourism in most countries across the world and Switzerland is no exception. According to O’Sullivan and Schifrin (2003), currency fluctuations refer to a tendency of national currencies to change relative to other national currencies at a given period of time. Currency fluctuations can be attributed to the following factors; political and social stability, country’s economic strength, increased of reduced demand for a certain currency, unemployment rates, and country’s interest rates among others. ... activities of individual or group of individuals travelling to destinations and staying in places that are away from their usual environment for a certain period of time for business, leisure and other purposes. From the definition, it is clear that currency fluctuation in Switzerland not only affects the international tourists but also the local tourists Creel (2007). When the Swiss Franc currency is weak, more tourists are encouraged to visit Switzerland as they will be able to get more Francs for their money. On the other hand, when the Swiss franc is strong, tourists are less likely to visit Switzerland as they will get less Swiss francs for their money Swiss Federal Statistical Office (2011). Tourism is very important in the Switzerland economy. This argument is proved by the efforts that the Switzerland National Bank put in 2010 and 2011 in order to prevent further strengthening of the franc especially against the euro which was impacting negatively on the country’s tour ism sector. Also, over the years, tourism sector has proved to be highly sensitive in regards to prices Luzzi and Yves (2003). Therefore, there is need for Switzerland tourist destinations especially the Swiss Alps to be in a better position to compete with other destinations such as those in France, Italy, Germany, and Austria Ewing (2010). The aforementioned countries offer plenty of hiking and skiing opportunities and mountains that also form important features of Switzerland tourists’ destinations. Ewing (2010) further argues that these countries belong to EU and use euro as their currency and most tourists who visit Switzerland come from these regions. Therefore, it is important to pay adequate attention to the fluctuation of Swiss currency in order to avoid losing Swiss- destined