Despite recent terror attacks Swiss are heading in droves to European cities for the Easter break, according to travel agents.City break bookings have experienced double-digit growth over last year, 24 Heures reported.
London, the scene of a terrorist attack in March, topped the list for European destinations, the paper said, quoting Hotel Plan and TUI Switzerland.
A spokesperson for Kuoni confirmed that the incidents in London and Stockholm were not putting a damper on bookings, unlike the year before following attacks in Paris and Brussels.
“People seem to be slowly getting used to terrible events like these,” said Kuoni’s Marcel Schlatter.
Other popular European destinations for the Easter break were Venice, Vienna, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Paris, the travel agents said.
The national carrier, Swiss, said the most popular flight destinations this Easter were Barcelona, Madrid, London and Berlin.
Within Switzerland the southern canton of Ticino is expected to attract an increased number of Swiss holidaymakers this weekend.
Michael Maeder of Switzerland Travel Centre told the paper the increase in reservations was partly attributable to better train connections following the opening of the Gotthard base tunnel.
Bookings were up 50 percent on last year, he said.
Swiss Federal Railways SBB have laid on an additional 28 trains for those travelling south. These will offer 46,000 seats – almost double the extra capacity provided last year.
“We are expecting a record number of passengers on the Gotthard line,” said SBB spokesperson Christian Ginsig, adding that places were still available on the extra trains.
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