Switzerland with its population of 7.5 million belongs to a group of countries with a comparably high propensity for travel. The downturn in demand in early 2000 was replaced by a significantly growing demand in latter years, mainly due to a very favourable economic environment (including significant GDP growth, growth of real incomes, shrinking unemployment rates and increased intake of foreign citizens, and thus a positive economic outlook), as well as continued low travel cost. In addition to business-related trips, classical beach holidays, city and cultural trips and individual tours are among the leading reasons to travel for the Swiss. Due to the number of immigrants, the amount of VFR traffic is substantial.
