In 2019, residents of Switzerland spent 200 million hours hiking and 2.4 millions went on an average of 15 bike rides, according to recently published data from Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office (FEDRO).
In 2019, around 57% of residents aged over 15 went hiking, a figure 20 percentage points higher than in 2007. The steepest rise was among those aged 15-26. Overall, women were slightly keener on hiking than men.
On average, hikers went on 15 hikes a year of around 3 hours each. Total hiking hours across the nation added up to 200 million over the year. All this walking brought in around CHF 3.6 billion in tourist spending.
The data also showed that 42% of those aged more than 15 years old cycled in 2019, of which 8% rode mountain bikes and 10% rode e-bikes some of the time. The number of people cycling rose 35% between 2007 and 2019. Men were more likely than women to mountain bike. Only a quarter of mountain bikers were women.
Overall cyclists from Switzerland and abroad spent around CHF 3 billion on bike-based tourism.
More on this:
FEDRO data (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
