GENEVA, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Swiss hotel industry is smiling after several lean years as government statistics released on Thursday showed that the number of overnight stays increased to 37.4 million in 2017, up by 5.2 percent from the previous year with a strong showing by China.
The Swiss Federal Statistical Office in a yearly report said the figures for 2017 were close to that of the record years of 1990 and 2008.
Foreign visitors registered 20.5 million overnight stays, a 6.1 percent increase, climbing to 1.2 million while Swiss overnight stays increased by 4.2 percent or 675,000 to a total of 16.9 million.
The foreign guests accounted for 20.5 million overnights after a decline in 2016.
There were 12.8 percent more Asians, or an increase of 588,000, 12.3 percent more Americans who climbed by 307,000 and 2.2 percent more Europeans who climbed by 255,000 in 2017.
Among the Asian countries, China (excluding China's Hong Kong) generated an increase of 148,000 overnight stays, growing by 13.1 percent, followed by stays from India which grew by 140,000 at a 23.4 percent increase followed by South Korea and Japan.
In contrast, the Gulf States saw the greatest decrease of all countries of origin, down by 39,000 overnight stays, or a decrease of 4.1 percent.
In 2015 and 2016, the Swiss hotel industry suffered due to a strong Swiss franc currency and a proliferation of terrorist attacks across Europe that deterred tourists, the Swiss News Agency said in a report.
