Despite on and off closures of Swiss retailers last year, total 2020 retail sales figures rose by 0.1% compared to 2019. Switzerland’s backdrop of negative inflation, meant real total year-on-year retail sales rose by 0.8%. However, headline sales numbers masks significant variations by retail sector. While e-commerce (+14.1%), sales of technology (+13.8%) and food, drink […]
Christmas traffic down 84% at Geneva airport
Normally Geneva airport is overrun with passengers during the Christmas period. This year there were 84% fewer passengers than last year, according to RTS. Between 23 and 27 December 2020, there were around 47,000 passengers, down from the 300,000 that passed through the airport during the same period in 2019. The largest number of passengers […]
Switzerland adds 14 more regions to its compulsory quarantine list
On 9 October 2020, Switzerland added 14 new regions to its quarantine list effective from 12 October 2020. People entering Switzerland from an additional 14 nations/regions must now quarantine for 10 days on arrival in Switzerland. On 9 October 2020, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) added the following places to its list: Land […]
Switzerland adds 18 more regions to its quarantine list
Today, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) added 18 regions to its compulsory quarantine list. Anyone arriving in Switzerland from these place from 28 September 2020 will be required by law to quarantine for 10 days. From 14 September 2020, Switzerland shifted from a system of listing entire countries to one which lists whole […]
New overnight trains planned between Switzerland and Amsterdam, Rome and Barcelona
Swiss Rail and ÖBB, the federal train operator in Austria, announced plans this week to join forces to launch new overnight train links. The planned services will include overnight trains between Zurich and Amsterdam, Rome and Barcelona. Demand for such services is on the rise, partly driven by climate change concerns. Taking a train to […]
Swiss Rail loses a third of passengers due to coronavirus
Recently published figures show rail passenger numbers dropped by more than a third during the first half of 2020. During this period an average of 810,000 passengers a day traveled on the network, a number more than a third less than during the first half of 2019 when there was 1.29 million. The number of […]
Coronavirus: country of departure now counts, not stopover country
The Swiss government has closed a Covid-19 travel loophole. From 31 August 2020, it will no longer be possible to skirt Switzerland’s entry restrictions by arriving in Switzerland from a high-risk country by transiting through a country that is not on the list. Until this date, it has been possible to circumvent Switzerland’s entry restrictions […]
Coronavirus: why are some countries not on risk lists despite exceeding new case thresholds?
Switzerland currently exceeds the UK’s threshold number of recent new Covid-19 cases to be classified as a risk country and France currently exceeds Switzerland’s threshold. However, these nations are currently not on risk lists. Nearly every nation now maintains a list of countries from which entry is either restricted or comes with a quarantine requirement. […]
Switzerland adds Spain and 6 other nations to its compulsory quarantine list
From 8 August 2020, people returning to Switzerland from Spain and 45 other nations must quarantine for 10 days. On 5 August 2020, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) added 7 nations to its existing list of countries where there is an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among them are Spain (with the exception […]
Coronavirus: 40% jump in new cases in Switzerland this week
In the seven days to 31 July 2020, the reported number of new SARS-CoV-2 infections recorded in Switzerland was 1,078, 40% more than the 772 cases recorded the week before. Over the weeks prior to this there were 589 and 692 new cases, according to worldinfometer.com. The number of new cases this week is at a […]
