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ALPINE CONVENTION | SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN THE ALPS
of the framework conditions and the promotion of tourist places. In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, the policy draws upon four strategies: an active management of strategic issues, the development of cross-sectorial tasks, improving the attractiveness of the tourist services and the reinforcement of Switzerland as a tourist destination on the markets. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO has published the first implementation program for the period 2012-2015 in April 2012 (“Umsetzungsprogramm 2012-2015”). Furthermore, tourist projects can be promoted by the Federal Regional Policy (NRP), a policy which is co-funded by the Confederation and the Cantons and by the RPT: with the Reform of the fiscal equalization system (RPT), about 2.5 billion federal funds are redistributed to the Cantons every year and can be used for all kind of projects. Furthermore, the cooperation between Cantons and the Confederation has been redefined. The Confederation is responsible for the establishment and the revision of the framework conditions for the various objectives identified (economy, international relations, health, tourism etc.).
important tourism actors in Switzerland. Finally, ST is also in contact with the tourist information offices that work on a regional scale; • the Swiss Hotel Loan Company (SGH) is a public cooperative, also subject to supervision by the SECO. It grants subordinated loans to accommodation businesses in tourist areas on advantageous terms. In addition, the company operates a consultancy department, offering fee-paid consultancy services to the accommodation industry; • the Swiss Tourism Federation (STV) is the umbrella federation of the Swiss tourism sector. Many important actors in Swiss tourism are members of the STV, in particular the important associations that are Hotelleriesuisse (Swiss Hotel Association), GastroSuisse (Swiss Association of Restaurants) and Seilbahnen Schweiz (Swiss Association of cable cars). The main task of STV is to take care of its members’ interests and of tourism in general. It also encourages innovation and quality through education, labelling and networks.
With relation to tourism, the following organs are in charge of various tasks at national level: • the Parliamentary Group for Tourism and Transports (composed of members of both federal chambers) takes care of the information on touristic affairs; • the Federal Department of Economic Affairs is the body responsible for the economic promotion of Switzerland, through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO. In this frame, it is in charge of the implementation of the tourism policy at national level. The SECO is also in contact with the most important international tourism bodies (EU, OECD, UNWTO). Furthermore, the SECO is in charge of the NRP, a tool that encourages initiatives developing tourist activities in peripheral regions strongly dependent on tourism; • the implementation of the tourism policy primarily deals with encouraging innovation and collaboration (Innotour, see below) in the field of tourism as well as the supervision of the outsourced organisations Tourism Switzerland (ST) and Swiss Hotel Loan Company (SGH); • Tourism Switzerland (ST) is a public corporation, subject to supervision by the SECO. Its main task is to promote Switzerland as a destination country for travel and tourism. It has branch offices in the countries where the majority of tourists come from, in order to provide on-the-spot marketing for Switzerland as a tourist destination. Tourism Switzerland closely cooperates with the most
The Cantons and municipalities are responsible for the tourism policy at lower level. The Cantons manage the various tourist charges used for financing, among others, the promotion of cantonal tourism locations. these taxes are: the tourist tax (taxe de séjour), the accommodation tax (taxe d’hébergement) and the economic promotion tax (taxe de promotion économique). The Tourist information offices and regional touristic associations promote their image and products, collaborate with Tourism Switzerland and raise awareness of the population and the authorities on the importance of tourism for their region. Some of the Cantons particularly active in the field of tourism have also created services or divisions specific for tourism (Bern, Valais, Graubünden, Ticino and St.Gallen, all situated into the perimeter of the Alpine Convention, with Valais and Graubünden being the most important regions for Alpine tourism).
ALPINE CONVENTION | SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN THE ALPS
B.3.3 Role of tourism in the economy A report on sustainable tourism in the Alps is confronted with the issues of the availability and comparability of data. The perimeter of the Alpine Convention includes parts of eight countries, and does not correspond to a single statistical area. Firstly, each country has calculate indicators, and are not always available Furthermore e.g. days of precisely quantifiable.
its own definitions and way to data about sustainable tourism at comparable territorial levels. stays in second homes are not
Secondly, the nature of tourism makes it arduous to provide a thorough analysis. The inter-sectoral and non-identifiable feature of tourism does not allow a comprehensive picture of its impact on economy, society and environment to be drawn. The diversity of situations and the complexity of the topic imply that the municipality level is the most suitable level for a correct analysis of tourism. Collateral consequences created by tourism remain hard to estimate (waste production, pollution, water and energy consumption etc.). Since tourism is often seen as an economic sector only, it is most cases considered part of the administration dealing with economic affairs; in fact the most common available data is about economic quantification of the tourism offers. Its synergies with other local economic sectors like trade, construction, commerce or agriculture are generally not taken into account. The difficulty in finding data on the environmental and social impacts of tourism and demand compels to veer towards qualitative data and case studies. However, a study of the Swiss research institute BAKBASEL proposes several data in a benchmarking of tourism with a specific section on the Alps (BAKBASEL, 2011). The perimeter taken into consideration slightly differs from the application perimeter of the Alpine Convention and some cities such as Ljubljana are considered in the study but are not part of the Alpine Convention. This must be kept in mind when reading the data as it may have influenced the results. The study was published in December 2011, with the most recent existing data. Due to lack of data, the authors performed many extrapolations and estimates, to give a full account on the Alpine situation. Thus, the figures cited in the following are only an indication. In the following paragraphs, the data proposed by this study are completed with figures from other sources, to give a general picture of the importance of tourism in the Alps, mainly from an economic point of view. Tourism is a fast-growing sector and the number of tourists continues to increase all over the world. It has become an important component of the modern lifestyle.
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The importance of Alpine tourism can be measured in market share on a global scale. In 2010, the Alps became one of the most important tourist destination in the world. However, the Alpine region has not grown as fast as other regions, mainly the Middle-East (BAKBASEL 2011, p.39). WWF Italy (2006) talks about 10% of global tourist overnight stays, APAT (2007) reports about 12%. In term of visits, the Working Group Transport of the Alpine Convention estimated that 95 millions long-stay tourists and 60 millions day-trip visitors visit the Alps every year (Alpine Convention, 2008, p.3). The 95 millions long-stay tourists estimation covers foreign and endogenous tourism, but it is probably an underestimation, as stays in secondary residences are not always taken into account in national statistics. Tourism offers can only partly be measured by the number of tourist beds available. In the Alps, in 2010, this number was estimated at 7.3 million (BAKBASEL, 2011, p.41). This estimation covers beds in second homes (non-commercial beds), hotels and para-hotellerie. As for the demand, 464 millions overnight stays were estimated (BAKBASEL, 2011, p.42). However, both beds and overnight stays do not include the one-day trips, that are frequent in the Alps, and thus do not give a full picture of situation. Day visitors greatly contribute to tourism income. The Swiss tourism satellite account roughly estimates that a third of the sales of tourism in Switzerland is attributable to day visitors (Conseil fédéral Suisse, 2010, p.15). However, the change in the figures above is interesting because they show some trends. From 1995 to 2010, there has been stagnation in the offer of tourist beds (hotels only). But the annual mean growth of overnight stays has reached 6.3% (BAKBASEL, 2011, p.43). When looking at the situation is more details, it is possible to notice differences between countries. In the German Alps, as well as in Liechtenstein, there has been a decrease, stagnation in the French Alps, whereas the Swiss, Austrian, Italian and Slovenian Alps have witnessed a growth in the number of overnight stays in hotels. In general, the BAKBASEL study concludes that the winter season has been more successful. However, the growth of overnight stays does not say if it is due to more arrivals and more tourists in general or to longer stays of the same person. As for the labour market generated by tourism, the percentage of jobs in the hotel and restaurant sector of the Alps is about 7% minimum (BAKBASEL, 2011, p.40). The OECD estimated that tourism accounted for 10-12% of the Alpine labour market (OECD, 2007, p.18), the BAKBASEL around 15%, both including jobs directly and indirectly linked to tourism (BAKBASEL, 2011, p.40). All the figures presented above are estimations or incomplete. Moreover, great variations are to be found depending on the regions considered.