term rentals in its old town. Depending on the relevant housing zone, attics or apartments on the second floor or higher are reserved for long-term tenants. Unterseen has banned short-term rentals within its residential zone, while Interlaken applies rules to the use of second homes based on the zoning regulations for distinct areas of the town. The SAB also recommends that municipalities first analyse available living space and draw up a suitable strategy in order to take appropriate measures. Then again, it depends on how strict the measures actually are. Interlaken stipulating a minimum rental period of just two consecutive nights “is neither here nor there”, says Berger, given that Airbnb guests tend to stay for exactly that amount of time. Yet, more important is how well the relevant measures are enforced. In the canton of Geneva, for example, both the head of tourism and the Geneva tenants’ association chair (and OSA Executive Board member) Carlo Sommaruga have criticised a lack of oversight. Obviously, you need resources if you want local officials coming by to check whether an apartment is occupied or not, says Sommaruga, who wants monitoring to be funded by revenue from penalty fines if required. But establishing a process is anything but easy. Lucerne, Davos and St Moritz are among the first municipalities that have at least begun to facilitate checks by obliging Airbnb landlords to register with their local authority and publish their identification number on the booking platform. With expensive rents also charged for poor-quality homes that have been renovated on the fly and fitted out with bunk beds, even Urs Kessler – an avowed opponent of regulation – approves of the measure. The status quo would otherwise be detrimental to Switzerland’s image as a tourist destination, the former Jungfrau Railways CEO remarked in an interview. Housing shortages in the Alps Of course, not everyone thinks this way. There are plenty of people who believe that the 90-day rule threatens the guarantee of property rights. The measure has also alarmed owners of holiday chalets. However, the five municipal initiatives in the Jungfrau region make a specific exception for such properties. “If holiday chalets and apartments are owner-occupied, up to five beds may be rented out without restriction,” explains Hanspeter Berger. The Bernese Oberland has made a tradition out of these types of accommodation, which no one complains about. Thomas Egger, who heads the Swiss Centre for Mountain Regions (SAB) thinks that Airbnb is very welcome in Alpine villages where the priority is to turn ‘cold beds’ in second homes into ‘warm beds’. But it becomes a problem when primary dwellings are taken off the market for the long term. Housing shortages in the Alps are, according to Egger, a direct consequence of the Covid pandemic and, therefore, a relatively new phenomenon. “Since the pandemic, many more people want to move to the mountains to live in permanent homes or temporarily in second homes,” he says, adding that the average vacancy rate for residential properties in popular tourist areas has consequently fallen by half to below one per cent within the last three years. Under one per cent equates to a housing crisis – which is now the reality in many tourist destinations. The SAB director does not expect the situation to improve any time soon. But Egger does not see Airbnb as a competitor to the hotel industry. Airbnb attracts a different clientele and contributes to more overnight stays, he says. It also opens up an additional sales channel for hotels. How strict and how enforceable? There are no blanket national restrictions on Airbnb rentals in Switzerland, hence cantons and municipalities have to act of their own accord. At the beginning of 2022, the city of Berne started applying a specific regime to shortIn Lucerne, visitors from all over the world are an everyday sight. The city is now taking action against the Airbnb boom with restrictive regulations. Photo: Keystone Anonymous key deposit boxes instead of doorbell panels with names: the Airbnb boom is driving renters out of their own neighbourhoods in many cities. Photo: Keystone Swiss Review / October 2025 / No.4 25
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