Tokyo (SCCIJ) – Foreign tourists are discovering Switzerland again, despite the strong national currency Franken. The best growth indicator: The Jungfrau Railway Group welcomed more than one million guests to “Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe”, one of the biggest highlights of a trip to Switzerland, for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. A return of tourists from Japan also drove the numbers up.
Million visitor mark reached again: The Jungfrau Railway Group recovers from the crisis (© Jungfrau Railway Group).
Close to all-time record
“Icy air sweeps over your face, snow crunches underfoot, and the panorama almost takes your breath away: (…) Standing on the Jungfraujoch 3,454 meters above sea level, you can feel it with your first step: this is a different world. It’s one you have to experience.” This is how Jungfrau Railway Group advertises the famous trip to the “Top of Europe”.
Its train transported a total of 1,007,000 guests to the Jungfraujoch mountain peak last year. This is 61 percent more than in the previous year, which was still heavily impacted by the pandemic. The number was only 4.6 percent less than the record year of 2019, in which more than one million visitors were counted for the last time.
Similarly impressive, on the line between Grindelwald Terminal and the Eigergletscher, more than 2 million guests traveled on the Eiger Express for the first time in 2023 with 2,003,900. The Jungfrau Railway Group has thus achieved a turnaround.
The winter season in the Jungfrau Ski Region was also off to an unprecedentedly strong start. In December alone, skier visits were 28% higher than the previous year at just under 208,000 guests, the highest figure in history.
Return of Asian visitors
As recently as the middle of last year, Group CEO Urs Kessler did not expect the million mark to be reached again. But there was a strong increase in visitors from Southeast Asia, India, and the USA in particular, while the number of tourists from China and Japan also rose again in the second half of the year.
In addition to the numerous individual travelers, there was also an increasing number of groups on the Jungfrau Railway Group’s trains. There was still a shortfall of around 120,000 guests in tour groups, which is primarily attributable to the Chinese and Japanese markets.
Records in other mountains
The Group was also pleased with the number of guests on the Experience Mountains. With a good 825,000 ascents and descents, the Harderbahn recorded an increase of 29 percent compared to the previous year and thus the highest number of visitors in its history. With a good 842,000 guests, the Firstbahn recorded an increase of 27 percent also a record.
The Lauterbrunnen-Mürren mountain railroads recorded almost 452,000 guests. This is 24 percent more than in the previous year, even though cable car operations had to be suspended for several weeks due to renovation work.
Text: SCCIJ based on material of Jungfrau Railway Group
