Zug,24.07.2017

Increasing number of Chinese visitors to the city

Figures from the Zug Tourist Board (ZT) show that there has been a distinct increase in the number of visitors from China to the city. While there was a lull last year, the figures from this year are exceeding those of 2015. In addition to those who are registered as they stay overnight, there are others, such as those on coach tours, for example, who do not appear in official statistics, as the manageress of ZT, Seraina Koller, pointed out. Chinse people here on business are also included in overnight-stay statistics, of course.
 
It has been noticed how for example, coachloads full of Chinese people have been arriving at the Spar food shop at Zug station. As the manageress Milica Milosavljevic explained, “They buy items of brand-name chocolate as well as fruit and vegetables. The problem is that they do not weigh and price the fruit. They just take it straight to the checkout. Another problem comes when we give them Swiss francs in change if they have paid in euros. It is as if they have never seen our currency before and are unwilling to accept it. Not many speak English, either,” she said, “so communication is a problem. It would be better if their tour leader explained more about the currency to them.” Now a notice has been put up explaining how euros are not given in change.
 
Other Chinese tourists have found their way to the Etter distillery, too. As its managing director, Gabriel Galliker-Etter explained, “If they come with a guide who tells them what they can and cannot do, this is all right. But, if not, some of them start walking into the offices. We have also put up some additional toilets outside just for them.”
 
Perhaps one reason why some Chinese tourists head for Zug is as a result of a joint mission by ZT and local watch and jewellery shop owner, Franco Lohri, to China four years ago. He said that he has noticed how the Chinese groups come to him if they have questions about which restaurant and such like to go to. “Coaches drop off the Chinese tourists off below Frauensteinmatt and they then head along to Landsgemeindeplatz on foot,” he noted.
 
One rather strange habit the Chinese visitors have been doing is heading to the Seelikon Lido, where they start taking selfies with bathers in the background, without asking their permission. “Photography is not illegal here but it is rather off-putting for our customers,” said co-proprietor Guido Gilardoni. “They come up here in groups of 20 or 30, often without a guide, in order to see, so I have been told, “original local inhabitants of Zug”. They are quite polite and do react when we point certain things out, but communication is a problem, of course. Then they use our toilets and unfortunately, it has to be said, they do not leave them in a state one would hope to find them in,” he complained. Lohri thought this would be during the free time they are given in Zug.
 
As Koller pointed out, should there be ongoing problems, then these should be reported to the police or the relevant city authority.
 
More Chinese tourists are very much evident in Lucerne, too. Figures there show the numbers have increased by 4.5% this year, when compared with the months between January and May of 2016.