Switzerland

There were 6,430,363 internet users in Switzerland (representing 84.2% of the population) in mid-year 2012 (June 30, 2012), according to Internet World Stats. (Internet World Stats, October 2012)

85% of people aged 14 and older in Switzerland had used the internet at least once during the last 6 months between October 2011 and March 2012, according to indicators by Statistics Suisse updated in August 2012.   During the same period, 79.3% 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. 97% of those aged 14-19 years old are regular internet users against 29% among those aged 70 years old or older.

Breakdown by age - Regular use of the internet by people aged 14 and older, between October 2011 and March 2012:
- 14-19: 97.0%
- 20-29: 95.8%
- 30-39: 92.6%
- 40-49: 88.9%
- 50-59: 79.7%
- 60-69: 58.8%
- 70 and older: 28.6%

Breakdown by Linguistic region - Regular use of the internet by people aged 14 and older, between October 2011 and March 2012:
- German-speaking Switzerland: 80.2%
- French-speaking Switzerland: 78.3%
- Italian-speaking Switzerland: 70.0%
- TOTAL: 79.3%

(Swiss Statistical Portal, February 2013)

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 Booking

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) reached a market share in Switzerland of 20.9% in 2012, an increase of 5% compared to 2011, according to a joint survey conducted between December 2012 and January 2013 by the Swiss Hotel Association in collaboration with the Institute for Tourism of the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland Valais.

Meanwhile, both traditional direct sales and sales generated by tourism partners (e.g. travel agencies, tourism organizations) have constantly declined. In 2012, only 62% of the bookings in Switzerland were generated via direct sales channels, against 75% in previous years.

Online distribution is becoming increasingly important for the hotel industry in Switzerland. On average, today in Switzerland already 30% of bookings are generated electronically in real-time through online booking agencies (OTA), hotel websites, global reservation systems (GDS), central reservation systems (CRS) of hotel chains, hotel cooperation and social media platforms. This represents an estimated turnover of over 1.1 billion francs.

Booking.com is the most frequently used OTA in Switzerland. Findings of the study found that its market share among OTA increased from 53% to 67%. The absolute market share (with respect to all channels) of booking.com is 14.8%, meaning that every seventh booking in the Swiss hospitality sector is generated by this player. Hotel Reservation System (HRS), GHIX and Expedia are other important players in this domain.

Approximately 40% of the questioned hoteliers used mobile sales channels in in 2012 compared to about one-third in 2011. Companies active in mobile distribution used websites adapted to mobile internet more often as opposed to specific apps. (HOTELMARKETING.COM, March 2013)

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)