Swiss singer Gjon Muharremaj, known professionally as Gjon’s Tears, has made it through to the final of the 2021 Eurovision song contest. 22 year-old Muharremaj lives in Broc in the canton of Fribourg. His father is Kosovo Albanian and his mother Albanian. Broc is a small town in French-speaking Switzerland not far from the town […]
Nearly two thirds of Swiss support EU framework agreement, suggests poll
Switzerland and the EU have been working at failing to agree on a new agreement on Switzerland’s relationship with the EU for sometime now. One point of negotiating leverage used by Switzerland is that Swiss voters would reject the deal proposed by the EU in a referendum. However, a recent poll suggests that might not […]
Organic farming continues to gain ground in Switzerland
Switzerland continues to shift towards organic farming. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of organic farms has risen by 54%. In 2020, the number rose 3.8%. Organic farms now make up 15.3% of total farms in Switzerland, up from 6.9% 20 years ago. In 2000, there were 4,902 organic farms. By 2020, the number had […]
40,000 hotel and restaurant jobs lost in Switzerland in 2020
Recent data show that Swiss hotels and restaurants shed 40,000 jobs in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with restaurants reliant on business travel hit the hardest, according to RTS. These figures do not include the effects of the pandemic beyond the end of 2020 and therefore exclude the impact of the pandemic […]
Latest poll shows majority support for Swiss anti-pesticide votes
With five weeks to go before Swiss vote on two initiatives aimed at drastically cutting the use of pesticides, more than 50% appear to be in favour of both initiatives, according to RTS. One of these initiatives, the clean drinking water initiative, aims to tie access to Switzerland’s generous farm subsidies to forgoing pesticide (and […]
Swiss consumer sentiment nearly back to pre-crisis level
Consumer sentiment among Swiss households is improving, according to Switzerland’s economic affairs office (SECO). In April 2021, the consumer sentiment index climbed back to -7 points after reaching a low of -40 in early 2020. The level of -7 is close to the pre-crisis level of early 2020 and close to its long term average […]
SWISS plans large cuts to fleet and staff numbers
On 6 May 2021, SWISS announced a plan to cut jobs and the size of its fleet. Due to the continuing global coronavirus pandemic and structural changes in the market, the company expects a 20% structural decline in demand. In response, the airline plans to cut the fleet it had in 2019 by 15% and […]
Short expiry notice for Swiss banknotes sparks criticism
Last Wednesday, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced that old Swiss banknotes would no longer be legal tender from Friday, 30 April 2021. The short notice period has generated complaints and confusion. The eighth series of Swiss banknotes did not lose their value, however, they are no longer an accepted means of exchange. The only […]
Swiss switched to local wine during pandemic
In 2020, wine consumption is Switzerland slumped by 6%. However, consumption of locally produced wine rose 0.3%. The biggest drop was in imported white wine (-14%), followed by imported red wine (-8%). Consumption of Swiss red wine (+0.5%) rose the most followed by Swiss white wines (+0.2%). Big drivers of falling wine consumption were the […]
Renters charged fees to view apartments in Geneva
Some agencies in Geneva are exploiting the city’s tight property market by charging people money just to view apartments, according to a report by RTS. A practice described as parasitic by ASLOCA, a rental association, involves an agency contacting those who have placed adverts for vacant apartments and offering them their services. The agency promises […]
