by SOPHIE DOUEZ
Arab tourists take in the sights of the Bernese Oberland PHOTO/Keystone
For decades, Swiss hotels and mountain resorts have been able to rely on Swiss and visiting Germans to fill their coffers. But each year there are fewer Europeans. Can visitors from emerging markets make up the difference?
On a warm sunny day in late summer, it is easy to see why sleepy Weggis, nestled quaintly at the base of the Rigi mountain on the shores of Lake Lucerne, has long been a magnet for European summer holidaymakers.
Described by Mark Twain as “the most charming place”, in the town today a trio of musicians plays Bach’s Air Suite #3 to an audience of a dozen or so elderly people seated in the blue and yellow seats of the Pavilion um See.
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Changing market
Maeder says he began noticing the arrival of visitors from emerging markets about six years ago and since then, his hotel and staff have undergone a certain period of adjustment in learning how to host these new clients in a manner acceptable to all concerned.
“The religion part is probably the most difficult [to manage] … in the lobby, they just ask me where Mecca is and go on the carpet and pray, and of course for the other guests, this might seem a bit strange,” he says, adding that dietary requirements, clothing and personal hygiene habits can also pose tricky problems.
Maeder cites the example of guests who are used to taking a shower before they have a bath; confronted with a Swiss-style bathroom in his 100-year-old hotel, guests use the shower hose outside of the bath first, something which almost always results in water damage because the bathroom is not equipped with a second drain.
A new extension planned for his hotel has been designed to accommodate to these requirements, and “now we are discussing about air conditioning because Arabs in particular, but Indians as well, as soon as we have more than 20 degrees they are all crying for air conditioning which is not very common in holiday resorts in the Oberland.”
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