Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Switzerland Tourism Where Business Plays a Big Role

Rochers de Naye, and Hotel de Caux, , Switzerl...
The money made from travelers around Switzerland is a bit more business than one would expect. There are new statistics showing that 19% of the hotel overnight stays last year were from visitors that were in Switzerland to attend meetings and go on business trips. Quite often, these business trips and meetings are scheduled in high tourism locations, but are done in the off season so as not to compete with tourists on vacation, who are often ready to splurge and out buy businesses for rooms. Because hotels are a huge part of the tourism puzzle piece, and because that number is significantly up from last year, one would expect that this should give a bit of a boost to Europe's land-locked country.

It's already mid October, and it's the calm before the storm of winter travelers looking to visit and travel Switzerland during the holiday breaks, and to ski some of the most popular slopes in the world. There are plenty of places still available to stay for the upcoming season, and not all of them are out of a typcial budget. One of the most popular places has been the Backpackers Villa in Interlaken Switzerland, which is a quality hostel in the heart of the Swiss Alps. If you haven't made plans yet, and want to try something adventurous, I would highly recommend making the trip to Switzerland.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Vacation vs. Stress

Vacation is a complete contrast to life at Bates. There I am always up to something: running errands for International Club, working in the library, studying (all-nighters), eating gross Chinese food with Natasha and Ashley, and lately discussing Breakaway with Shawna-Kaye. Something is always going on, and when it isn’t Marta will change that by making something happening. Here in Sweden I wake up at 7.30 in the mornings (which I think is quite ambitious), take a morning walk with my mother around the peninsula (typically 10-13 km), go take a morning swim in the sea to cool down after the walk, eat breakfast, nap, eat lunch, read/write/do chores/solve sudoku puzzles, nap some more, go swim again before dinner, eat dinner, talk to my family after dinner, watch the evening news and any British crime series that might be on (Midsomer Murders), watch the evening news on the other channel, play some Gameboy if I am not tired, and finally I go to bed at around midnight (as opposed to 2.30-3.00 am which is normal Bates bedtime). I love being free, but at the same time I miss having nothing to do. I do not want to complain about being without occupation as I complain all school year about being too busy. I love my family and I love being home, but five weeks of this life is about enough for me. I need action not to feel restless and right now Sweden does not offer me that. Hopefully I will be able to spend the next summer doing research in the USA or abroad. Now that is a summer occupation that I would enjoy! If I can't get a job over the summer, I would love to go on a train trip and explore more of the world!