Switzerland continues to draw growing numbers of North Americans. For example, overnights from the United States were up 4.7 percent to almost 1,600,000 in 2013. The biggest draw? The Zürich region, followed by Geneva and Lucerne. Here are some details that agents need to know:
- The contemporary boutique Hotel City Zürich has reopened after extensive renovations. It has a new restaurant, Loeweneck, with modern flair, too. For more information, visit hotelcity.ch/en/home.
- An altogether new hotel, the Dorint Airport-Hotel Zürich, has opened, and it has its own destination restaurant, Basilico. For more information, visit hotel-airport-zuerich.dorint.com/en/.
- A new app, Best Swiss Hotels, includes information on 500 properties of all sizes and in all regions. What’s more, agents can search it by location, ranking, or other characteristics. For more information, visit myswitzerland.com.
- “E-bike” tours (sounds virtual, but it’s real) of the bucolic countryside around Bern and Gantrisch Nature Park are running now through October 31. The 3-hour, 30-mile route includes RT rail to Burgistein. For more information, visit bls.ch/e/reisen-ausfluege/ausfluege-so-reisen-gantrisch.
- Another April-October 31 activity is the Kambly Roundup, a 1-day sightseeing railroad tour that packs in mountain peaks and lakes; the Emmental cheese region, Lucerne; and the UNESCO Heritage Site in Bern. For more information, visit bern.com/en/activities/excursions/kambly-roundtrip
- The Pile Dwellers, which just opened in the Bern Historical Museum, is a must-see exhibition about prehistoric Stone- and Bronze-age people who managed to survive in the Alps. It will run through October 26th. For more information, visit bhm.ch/en/exhibitions/temporary-exhibition/the-pile-dwellers-on-the-water-and-over-the-alps/exhibition-with-museum-park.
