Switzerland aims at rich tourists, but what is the cost?

Now the world is a very uncertain place – the conflict, climate change and the fears of the recession dominate the headlines. But for some people, everything goes pretty well – wealthy.

Despite the world’s shocks, the number of billionaires in the world is increasing, and the personal wealth of each is also increasing.

So what to do with all this money? A growing trend towards the ultimate luxurious experience is a hint that they make very rich with their money. In particular, it is an opportunity for the tourist industry.

In Switzerland, which has long grown the reputation of low luxury, the number of five -star hotels is increasing faster than any other category. Many of them were built in the early 20th century – Grand Belle Epoque Palaces, which serve the then -class class, primarily English tourists.

Today, repaired to the highest standards, these hotels do not leave dissatisfied wishes. There are luxurious health resorts, gourmet restaurants, and a panoramic alpe design apartments. Some offer a “ski palace” to smuggle the guests to the slopes, and carry the skis and even help to dress their boots.

The key markets are the US, the Gulf States, China and Southeast Asia. In particular, US guests, Swiss hotels, are waiting for full five -star treatment, including 24 -hour rooms in rooms so that they can order food in the night.

Meanwhile, China and India are markets where the first groups traveling from these two countries are some of the richest. Switzerland is very eager to enter the beginning of this trend.

But the five -star proposal comes with a hefty price tag, and where does it leave those who are not billionaires? Marcus Berger of Swiss tourism says the strategy is not to focus solely on high-end guests, but not ignored.

Settlement in the Swiss five -star hotels account for about 8% of all overnight, but their guests make at least 25% of the total income of Switzerland from tourism.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” says Mr. Berger. “High economic importance justifies the commitment to luxurious guests.”

Moreover, he adds, Switzerland, with a high earnings, a high cost of the economy, cannot compete with less expensive neighbors, especially now that the Swiss franc is so strong.

“Switzerland never tried to compete for prices,” Mr. Berger explains. “There is always cheaper.”

Instead, the focus is on quality, service and additional value as skiing. In return, guests who come to five -star hotels also bring a good cause to the rest of the economy, gorgeously spending in restaurants with Michelin’s stars and boutique shops, which also become a feature in a number of Swiss alpine resorts.

But this is not quite a win -win situation. Some of the most famous Switzerland resorts, such as St. Mooritz or Zermatt, have perennial problems that the focus on luxury is the prices of the locals from the market.

A common problem is the search for hundreds of hotels and restaurants needed to provide a five -star service.

Sometimes they are on trips, late in the evening, when cocktail bars and restaurants finally closed, long trips to other villages where housing is available on the waiter’s salary.

Monica Bandy, who heads the tourism study unit at the Bern Regional Development Center, considers Switzerland’s step towards high -end guests as a sophisticated balance. It’s about “quantity against quality”, she says.

He believes that more tourists are not necessarily better. Instead, higher costs for existing numbers can be positive.

And, she adds, Switzerland should monitor the “turning point where the directions really lose their character.”

Currently, at the world-renowned, the smoothing resort is famous for the turning point, and its decades with British skiers, very beloved “ski club” only celebrated its 100th anniversary this year.

And also this year, Wengen opens its first in the history of a five -star hotel, and there are also plans for the five -star hotel. They will be sold to wealthy tourists who want a luxury holiday home in the Alps and can also be rented if owners are missing.

Calling the project at the hotel, it operates the gap in the strict laws of Switzerland against the “cold beds” of rest houses. Theoretically, the law limits them no more than 20% of the resort.

The Swiss Heritage Society has officially objected to Hungarian plans because the Simena Weiss press secretary, the project is not really a hotel. “It looks like a typical home resting complex … There is no integration into society.”

The necessary public spaces that would have at the hotel – restaurant and spa -center are planned, but they will all be underground. Design priority, Mr. Weiss, designed for private luxury apartments that can only be busy a few weeks a year. “The design is invalid,” he adds.

Some locals Hungen also has doubts. “Not Saint Morats here,” said one of the Swiss media, adding that “Hungarian is not gorgeous.”

Hungarian Tourism Director Rolf Vegmuller agrees with this assessment, but says the trend towards luxury housing will not change the character of the resort. “We are suddenly not going to make the guests walk on the fur,” he says.

He notes that the smoothie is only available on the train, so, unlike St. Moorzo, there will be no Benth, no Roll-Royce, which occupy parking. Even if they could show their wealth defiantly, Mr. Vegmuller believes that “our guests will not want to show what they have.”

The resort also has visitors who return year after year, contributing to the integration that Mr. Weiss is concerned about the loss. “Some families come to generation,” says Mr. Vegmuller. “The locals know them, and that’s good.”

Among them is Brian Bollen, who is only down -khill, who has been coming to Hungarian for over 50 years. He loves him, but worried that some “charm has left the place … it’s over.”

But most of the smoothie, as in Swiss tourism, see investments in alpine resorts as positive. These villages were not much more than a century ago, very poor. The 19th English language leadership in the Swiss Alps wrote that “most children are beggars.”

In recent years, world trade rules that restrict agriculture subsidies have forced many small alpine dairy farms to close. Tourism, winter and summer, very important for the Swiss economy, especially for mountain communities.

And, as Mr. Berger from Switzerland, while the five-star sector is growing, three star hotels are still the largest category. “We have one to a five-star (in Hungarian),” adds Mr. Vegmuller. “That’s good in the resort.”

And although people with unlimited money that need to be spent on luxurious trips can still be in a minority minority, their number and their wealth grows. Switzerland’s approach is not cheaper, but better, no more people, just richer – seems to pay off.