Switzerland addresses rich tourists but at what cost?

The world is a very insecure place at this time: conflict, climate change and recession fears dominate the headlines. But for some people, things go quite well, the rich.

Despite the global agitation, the number of billionaires in the world is growing and the personal wealth of each of them is also increasing.

So what to do with all that money? The growing trend for the best luxury experience is a track of what the rich are doing with their cash. For the tourism industry in particular, it is an opportunity.

In Switzerland, which has long cultivated a reputation for discreet luxury, the number of five -star hotels increases faster than any other category. Many of them were built in the early twentieth century: the Grand Belle Epoque palaces that serve an emerging class of privileged and English tourists.

Today, renewed to the highest standards, those hotels do not leave the desire for guests without satisfaction. There are luxury spas, gourmet restaurants and designer suites with panoramic views of the Alps. Some offer “ski butlers” to transport the guests to and from the slopes, carry the skis and even help put their boots.

The key markets are the United States, Gulf states, China and Southeast Asia. American guests in particular, Swiss hoteliers say, expect full five -star treatment, including 24 -hour room service, so they can ask for food in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile, China and India are emerging markets, where the first groups to travel from those two countries are among the richest. Switzerland is very interested in entering at the beginning of that trend.

But the five -star offer comes with a considerable price, so where does that leave those who are not billionaires? Markus Berger, from the Tourism of Switzerland, says that the strategy is not to focus solely on high -end guests, but to analyze the figures.

The stay in the five -star Swiss hotels represent about 8% of all nights, but those guests contribute to at least 25% of the total income of Switzerland of tourism.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” says Berger. “High economic importance justifies a commitment to luxury guests.”

In addition, he adds, Switzerland, with his high salary and high price economy, cannot compete with less expensive neighbors, particularly now that Swiss Francing is so strong.

“Switzerland has never tried to compete for prices,” Berger explains. “There is always a cheaper place.”

On the other hand, the approach focuses on quality, service and added value, such as those ski butlers. In return, guests who come to five -star hotels also contribute a lot to the rest of the economy, spending luxuriously on restaurants and boutique stores with Michelin stars that are also becoming a feature in several Swiss alpine resorts.

But it is not a completely winning situation. In some of the most famous resorts in the Switzerland market, such as St Moritz or Zermatt, there are long -standing concerns that the luxury approach is to set the premises outside the market.

A common challenge is to find accommodation for the hundreds of hotels and restaurants personnel necessary to provide the five -star service.

Sometimes trips are found, at night at night, when the bars and restaurants of cocktails have finally closed, long trips to other villages where the accommodation is affordable in the salary of a waiter.

Monika Bandi, who directs the Tourism Research Unit at the Regional Development Center of the University of Bern, sees the tone of Switzerland to the high -end guests as an act of fine balance. This is “quantity versus quality,” she says.

More tourists are not necessarily better, he believes. Instead, greater expense for existing numbers can be positive.

And, he adds, Switzerland needs to take into account the “turning point, where destinations really lose their character.”

Currently, questions are being asked about a turning point in the Wengen complex, worldwide famous for his career of Lauberhorn, and his decades connection with British skiers, the very dear ski club “Down Hill” celebrated his centenary this year.

And also this year, WENGEN is opening its first five -star hotel, and there are also plans for a five -star complex of “hotel apartments” with services. They will be sold to rich tourists who want a luxury vacation house in the Alps, and can also be rented when the owners are absent.

When calling the project as a hotel, an escape exploits in the strict laws of Switzerland against the “cold beds” of vacation houses. In theory, the law limits them to no more than 20% of a resort accommodation.

The Swiss Heritage society has formally opposed Wengen’s plans, because, according to the spokesman, Simon Weiss, the project is not really a hotel. “It seems a typical complex of vacation houses … there is no integration into the community.”

The required public spaces are planned that a hotel, a restaurant and a spa, but all will be underground. The priority of the design, Mr. Weiss Teme, is for private luxury apartments that can be occupied only a few weeks a year. “The design is unacceptable,” he adds.

Some WENGEN locals also have their doubts. “It’s not St Moritz here,” one told Swiss Media, adding that “WENGEN is not elegant.”

The tourism director of WENGEN, Rolf Wegmüller, agrees with that evaluation, but says that the trend towards luxury accommodation will not change the character of the resort. “We are not going to have guests walking in sudden leather coats,” he says.

WENGEN, he points out, is only accessible by train, so, unlike St Moritz, there will be no bentleys or rolls-Royces that take parking spaces. Even if they could show their wealth, Mr. Wegmüller believes that “our guests will not want to show what they have.”

The complex also has visitors who return year after year, contributing to the integration that Mr. Weiss cares about losing. “Some families have come for generations,” says Wegmüller. “The locals know them, and that’s good.”

Among them are Brian Bollen, enthusiastic member of the Down Hill Only club, who has been arriving in Wengen for more than 50 years. He loves, but he is concerned that “the charm has gone from the place … is in excess.”

But most in Wengen, such as Swiss tourism, see investment in alpine resorts as positive. These villages were, no more than a century, very poor. A 19th English guide of the Swiss Alps wrote that “most children are beggars.”

In recent years, global commercial rules that limit agricultural subsidies have forced many small alpine dairy farms to close. Tourism, winter and summer, is greatly important for the Swiss economy, especially for mountain communities.

And, as Mr. Berger of Switzerland points out, while the five -star sector is growing, three -star hotels remain the largest category. “We have one to five stars (in Wengen),” adds Mr. Wegmüller. “That’s good thing in a resort.”

And although people with unlimited money to spend on luxury trips can still be in a small minority, their number and their wealth are growing. Switzerland’s approach, not cheaper, but better, no more people, only richer, seems to be fruitful.