The Beginning of Winter Tourism 1860

Beginning Winter Tourism 1860
Beginning winter tourism 1860

Beginning Winter Tourism 1860 | Ever heard about the Badrutt Hotel? No room in this hotel goes below 1,000 Euros per night. Why actually? Must be something …

The small Swiss city of St. Moritz would probably still be an unknown tinseltown somewhere at 1,800 meters  elevation, if it didn’t become famous as the cradle of winter tourism. It all started in the 1860s, when hotel manager Johannes Badrutt invited some British summer holiday guests to return to St. Moritz in winter to see some snowy landscape with plenty of sunshine. According to legend, Badrutt made a bold offer: he told them, if they were not satisfied, he would pay back their travel expenses. This move might have inaugurated a trend: winter tourism. Interesting side note: it took another 100 years to break the dominance of summer tourism in St. Moritz. Finally in the 1970s the numbers of winter tourists took over the lead from summer tourists in St. Moritz and in many of the Swiss ski resorts.

In 1830 the young Johannes Badrutt turned a residential house in Engadin near St. Moritz into a hotel. He named it A la Vue du Bernina. Unlike neighbouring houses, this building has a roundish kind of roof. It is still intact. Go and take a look.

beginning winter tourism 1860 Johannes Badrutt Samedan Hotel Bernina
Johannes Badrutt’s Hotel Bernina in Samedan near St. Moritz.
beginning winter tourism 1860 switzerland
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In the 2014-2015 winter season, St. Moritz was celebrating its pioneering role and its long-standing tradition as a winter tourism destination with all kinds of festivities -> www.engadin.stmoritz.ch/150years


Beginning winter tourism 1860. By Chili and Churp | © International Destinations | Read more articles on the History of Tourism here:  | Beginning of Leisure Tourism 1844 | First Cruise Ship 1900 | Sex Tourism since 1950s | Space Tourism since 2009 | Tourism in AntarcticaForgotten Tourist Destinations | Most popular Countries for Tourists