Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

The Swiss Hotel Association recorded a 0.7% increase in overnight stays during the 2018/2019 winter season. © Nikittta | Dreamstime.com From November to April, 16.7 million overnight stays were recorded in Switzerland, 8.8 million by foreign visitors and 7.9 million by Swiss travelers. The increase was highest among foreign visitors. Nights spent by foreign visitors rose 1% to 8.8 million nights. The steepest rise was among Americans who spent an extra 71,000 nights in Swiss hotels, a rise of...

The National Council, Switzerland’s parliament, rejected a motion to force Swiss mobile phone operators to remove EU roaming charges. 99 voted against, 78 for and 14 abstained, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. © Georgejmclittle | Dreamstime.com In 2017, the European Union (EU) forced EU operators to stop charging their customers extra for calls made outside their home country but within the EU. This left Swiss mobile phone users among the few still paying extra for calls in neighbouring...

Next Friday, 14 June 2019, women across Switzerland plan to go on strike as part of a global movement calling for gender equality and an end to violence against women. Source: Facebook – grevefeministe Over the last 10 years, an average of 25 people have been killed annually as a result of domestic violence in Switzerland. 75% of the victims were women or girls. Women are more likely than men to be victims of other more prevalent forms of domestic violence too, and foreign women and girls in...

Every year, Lausanne-based IMD business school publishes its global competitiveness ranking. Switzerland climbed from 5th last year to 4th behind Singapore, Hong Kong and the US. Venezuela (63rd) was last. © Bogdan Lazar | Dreamstime.com The ranking, established in 1989, incorporates 235 indicators and takes into account a wide range of “hard” statistics such as unemployment, GDP and government spending on health and education, as well as “soft” data from an survey of business leaders...

Many new to Switzerland are shocked by the prices of things. High Swiss prices have not gone unnoticed by locals either, many of whom shop in neighbouring countries to avoid them. © Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com However, cross-border shopping hurts the environment – more time is spent in cars – and hurts local Swiss retailers. There are many reasons for Switzerland’s high prices. Among them is the relatively high wholesale prices some Swiss retailers are charged by importers, international...

Switzerland’s third largest health insurer had a good year in 2018, according to recently published financial statements. Instead of holding onto all of the CHF 61.9 million profit it made last year, the not-for-profit company plans to return some of the money to policyholders between now and the end of the year. Around half of all policyholders will receive something. Policyholders in ten cantons will receive them. In Vaud each adult will get CHF 50. In Geneva they’ll get CHF 100 and in...

Employees Switzerland, an organisation representing Swiss workers, is resigned to the idea of raising the retirement age, according to Swiss broadcaster RTS. © Olena Yakobchuk | Dreamstime.com Speaking to the newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, Stefan Studer, director of the association, said raising the retirement age is inevitable because of the financial difficulties facing Switzerland’s state pension system, known as the first pillar. “We must rethink the retirement age”, said Studer. He thinks we...

Last week, a crowd assembled in Bern outside Switzerland’s federal parliament building to protest the roll out of 5G mobile technology in Switzerland. © Tpibernik | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s “Stop 5G” movement is demanding a halt to further roll out of the technology in Switzerland, a process already well underway. They are demanding a precautionary approach and further research into the health effects. Most scientists have failed to establish any health risks associated the radiation...

© Rosshelen | Dreamstime.com On average, renting a 4.5 room apartment of 100 to 110 m2 costs CHF 3,820 a month in Geneva. The same apartment in the Swiss city of St. Gallen costs CHF 2,004, 52% of the price, according to a report on rents in Switzerland’s ten main cities by the price comparison website Comparis. For an apartment of this size, Geneva (3,820) is the most expensive, followed by Zurich (3,073), Lausanne...

On average, renting a 4.5 room apartment of 100 to 110 m2 costs CHF 3,820 a month in Geneva. The same apartment in the Swiss city of St. Gallen costs CHF 2,004, 52% of the price, according to a report on rents in Switzerland’s ten main cities by the price comparison website Comparis. © Rosshelen | Dreamstime.com For an apartment of this size, Geneva (3,820) is the most expensive, followed by Zurich (3,073), Lausanne (2,850), Basel (2,660), Bern (2,600), Luzern (2,430), Winterthur (2,400),...