Switzerland

There were 6,152,000 internet users in Switzerland (representing 80.5% of the population) in June 2011, according to Internet World Stats. (Internet World Stats, August 2011)

84.1% of people aged 14 and older in Switzerland had used the internet at least once during the last 6 months between October and March 2011, according to indicators by Statistics Suisse updated in November 2011.   During the same period, 77.5% claimed to use the internet regularly (i.e. several times a week).

People aged 70 or older are using the internet globally less than younger age groups. 95% of those aged 14-19 years old are regular internet users against 25% among those aged 70 years old or older.

Breakdown by age - Regular use of the internet by people aged 14 and older, between October 2010 and March 2011:
- 14-19: 95.4%
- 20-29: 95.8%
- 30-39: 91.0%
- 40-49: 85.5%
- 50-59: 76.5%
- 60-69: 61.0%
- 70 and older: 24.9%

Breakdown by Linguistic region - Regular use of the internet by people aged 14 and older, between October 2010 and March 2011:
- German-speaking Switzerland: 78.7%
- French-speaking Switzerland: 76.7%
- Italian-speaking Switzerland: 62.2%
- TOTAL: 77.5%

(Swiss Statistical Portal, November 2011)

Of Europe's 372 million unique visitors, Switzerland accounted for 4.7 million unique visitors during August 2011, according to comScore. Users in Switzerland spent an average of 18.3 hours online in the past month, consuming 1,882 pages online. (comScore, October 2011)

Travel Industry Online Developments

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) have significantly increased their market share in Switzerland, from 5.7% in 2008 to 13.6% in 2010, according to a survey of Swiss hotels by the University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland Valais in collaboration with the Swiss Hotel Association.  The survey found that during the economic downturn and because of the strong Swiss Franc, many Swiss hotels have started using OTAs to gain new customers and compensate for foreseen losses.

The survey estimates that online sales in the Swiss hotel sector reached an overall turnover of more than 850 million CHF in 2010 and commission costs of some 90 million CHF. Despite the growth of the OTAs, direct booking channels such as telephone, fax, walk-ins, e-mail, Web form on the own website are still dominant for Swiss hotels.  The share of these direct bookings decreased between 2008 and 2010 from 75.4% to 71.1%.

On average more than half of all bookings (55.9%) are initiated through electronic channels, but Swiss hotels realize on average only 4.9% of all sales through this channel (8.7% in city hotels). Booking.com, Hotel Reservation System (HRS), Switzerland Travel Centre (STC) and destination management systems (DMS) of local destinations are the most frequently used online channels in the Swiss hospitality sector. Booking.com has a high penetration rate of 90% among members of the hotel association. Three out of four properties say that this platform is important or very important for their sales activities underlining the importance of this OTA in the Swiss market. (Institute of Tourism, University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland Valais, March 2011)

Broadband Access

More than 90% of online households in Swtizerland had broadband access in 2010,  according to the Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS). (Confédération Suisse Office Fédéral de la Statistique - OFS, February 2011)

UGC and Social Media

51% of internet users in Switzerland are members of a social network, according to STATEC - the Swiss Statistical Portal. The percentage decreases with age, reaching 83.4% among those aged between 16-24 years old, 51.2% among those aged between 25 and 54 years old, but 24.2% among those aged between 55and 74 years old.

Women (52.5%) are more likely than men (49.7%) to be a member of a social network. (Swiss Statistical Portal, January 2012)