The protracted European heat-wave is reshaping travel patterns inside Switzerland. Tourism boards in Graubünden, home to resorts such as Davos-Klosters, St. Moritz and Arosa, reported on 1 August that spontaneous bookings have surged as Swiss and neighbouring-country residents flee sweltering lowlands. Switzerland Tourism’s snap survey shows same-week hotel reservations up 17 percent compared with the same week in 2025. Luzi Bürkli of Graubünden Ferien told the Keystone-SDA news agency that enquiries rose sharply whenever temperatures in Zurich or Milan exceeded 32 °C. Mountain railways have increased capacity and some hotels have reopened closed wings to meet demand. Domestic tourists account for two-thirds of the spike, but hoteliers also note more German and Italian guests who would normally head to Mediterranean beaches. For mobility stakeholders, the trend puts unexpected strain on alpine transport corridors. Rhaetian Railway added extra carriages on the Chur–St. Moritz route and car-hire firms in Landquart are short of vehicles. Employers with staff on extended “work-cation” arrangements should verify that temporary accommodation meets occupational-health rules and that cross-border workers staying longer in Switzerland remain within tax-treaty thresholds. The boom is good news for a sector still clawing back international long-haul visitors lost during the pandemic and this spring’s Middle-East travel disruptions. If hot weather persists, analysts at Credit Suisse Tourism expect Graubünden’s overnight stays to top the record 2.61 million logged in summer 2025, boosting local employment and VAT takings. Regional authorities caution that mountain rescue services and water supplies face higher load. Visitors are urged to book rail seats and mountain huts in advance and to respect fire bans in drought-affected forests. Mobility providers say lessons learned this year will feed into capacity planning for future climate-driven tourist flows.
Source: SWI swissinfo.ch
