The head of the main Swiss hoteliers' group has called for action to reverse the damage the strong franc is doing to the country's tourism industry. The Swiss National Bank abruptly abandoned its cap on the level of the Swiss franc against the euro in January of last year, sending the currency soaring.
The SNB has repeatedly defended its decision to scrap what it has said was an unsustainable policy, but the move has increased the cost of goods produced in the export-dependent economy and sold abroad, and tourist numbers have fallen.
"It is time to take action," Casimir Platzer, the head of Gastro Suisse, a trade group for hotels and restaurants, said in an opinion piece in the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper. "It is urgently necessary to call a tourism summit."