Liechtenstein tourism businesses registered a positive winter season. Figures for the 2016/17 winter show an upward trend, with an increase in overnight stays.
The industry recorded 55,372 overnight stays. This is an increase of 11.3% compared to the previous year, as reported by the Liechtenstein tourism statistics.
However, developments in hotels in the Alps and in the Rhine Valley differed. While the latter recorded an increase of 17.4%, mountain hotels recorded a rise of only 3.6%.
The number of guests grew even more. Hotels recorded 27,094 arrivals, which is 18.3% more than last year.
A considerable part of the Liechtenstein tourism growth is likely to be due to an increase in bed capacity. The Principality had over 1330 hotel beds last winter. This is 17.6% more than the previous year. In winter, 36.8% of the hotels were open, 2.6% more than the year before. Since the number of beds increased more than the number of overnight stays, the average bed occupancy decreased. It fell from 24.2% to 23.2%.
The average length of stay also declined, from 2.2 nights to 2. Nearly 39% of the guest arrivals were from Switzerland, which is still the most important source market for Liechtenstein tourism. 25% of arrivals were from Germany, while 5% from Austria.
