Despite record visitor numbers, Swiss tourism is entering a more demanding phase. Economic slowdown, climate pressure, a shift in overnight stays towards urban centers, geopolitical tensions, and persistent recruitment difficulties mean that the sector’s future performance will no longer depend solely on visitor volume, but also on the quality of strategic management. This evolution reinforces the need for tourism and hospitality executives to acquire general management and leadership skills such as those offered by the Geneva EMBA, at the intersection of strategy, finance, innovation, and organizational management.
A silent transformation of the model
Since 2021, Switzerland has experienced a spectacular recovery. Summer 2025 generated nearly 25 million overnight stays, and annual growth has remained around 2 to 3%. Winter 2024/25 also reached record levels. But behind these figures lies a deeper shift: growth is now primarily driven by urban centers, business tourism, short breaks, and metropolitan destinations.
The sector is becoming more international, more digitalized, and more sensitive to currency fluctuations and geopolitical decisions. This transformation logically calls for a renewed strategic perspective: a nuanced understanding of markets, dynamic capacity management, analysis of business models, and long-term investment decisions. It is precisely this type of systemic and interdisciplinary approach that the Geneva EMBA cultivates through a high-level, AMBA-accredited generalist program that prepares individuals to lead organizations in complex global environments.
Margins under pressure, financial trade-offs
With an average occupancy rate close to 57%, the sector has significant potential for optimization. However, profitability is becoming more complex: rising energy costs, wage increases, digital transformation and climate change adaptation, and a strong Swiss franc. It requires managers capable of evaluating business plans, structuring investment decisions, and engaging with diverse stakeholders. The Geneva EMBA offers comprehensive training in management, finance, strategy, and governance, designed for working professionals.
Talent and Organizational Transformation
Beyond recruitment, it’s also about organizational transformation: creating attractive work environments, fostering engagement, strengthening corporate culture, and integrating consistent management practices at all levels. Digitalization, for example, is transforming customer experience (reservations, personalization, flow management), as well as internal operations: data analysis, resource optimization, strategy, and risk management. The Geneva EMBA trains responsible leaders to drive these changes, combining academic teaching, applied projects, and interaction with the Geneva economic ecosystem in its curriculum.
The Role of Self-Leadership
Faced with this complexity, transformation cannot be solely structural. It is also personal. The Geneva EMBA offers a learning experience grounded in the development of self-leadership, emotional intelligence, teamwork, and critical thinking, to help experienced managers expand their responsibilities and assume leadership roles in rapidly evolving sectors such as tourism and hospitality.
A sector of opportunity for strategic leaders
Swiss tourism today offers considerable opportunities, requiring individuals capable of:
- analyzing uncertain macroeconomic environments,
- structuring complex investment decisions,
- leading organizational transformations,
- integrating sustainability and performance,
- mobilizing teams in demanding contexts.
In other words, leaders trained to think strategically, act responsibly, and drive change. The Geneva EMBA trains these leaders, drawing on the academic strength of the University of Geneva and the Geneva ecosystem, to prepare leaders capable of supporting the transformation of this key sector of the Swiss economy towards more sustainable, innovative and competitive models.
