News · 19 October 2026
Hotel chains in Switzerland now hold 35.6% of rooms
Hotel chains now hold more than a third of Switzerland's hotel rooms, yet nearly nine in ten Swiss hotels don't belong to a chain. Here's what both halves of that picture mean for the year you spend on the commercial side of hotel school.
Hotel chains in Switzerland ran 536 hotels with 51,050 rooms on 30 June 2026, or 35.6% of all the hotel rooms in the country.[1] That's up from 34.2% a year earlier, and the biggest group is Accor, with 10,581 rooms.[1]
The numbers are from Horwath HTL's DACH Hotel & Chains Report 2026, which came out in October 2026 and covers Germany, Austria and Switzerland.[1] The Swiss trade paper htr hotelrevue ran the Swiss results on 16 October 2026.[3] Heading into the second year of a hotel management degree? Then you're looking at a handy map of who runs the hotels you could be working in.
How many hotel chains are there in Switzerland?
More chain hotels, fewer hotels overall. Over the year the chains went from 502 hotels to 536, while the country's total shrank slightly, to 4,337 hotels and 143,431 rooms.[2]
| Switzerland | 2025 | 2026 (30 June) |
|---|---|---|
| Chain hotels | 502 | 536 |
| Rooms in chain hotels | 49,340 | 51,050 |
| Chains' share of all hotel rooms | 34.16% | 35.59% |
| Chains' share of all hotels | 11.39% | 12.36% |
| Average rooms per chain hotel | 98 | 95 |
| Average rooms per hotel, all hotels | 33 | 33 |
Source: Horwath HTL, Switzerland key stats.[2]
Look at the two shares side by side. Chains have more than a third of the rooms but only about one hotel in eight, because a chain hotel here averages 95 rooms and the average Swiss hotel has just 33.[2] Swiss and international chains run 268 hotels each, yet the international brands hold about two thirds of the chain rooms.[1]
Switzerland sits in the middle of the region. Germany is at 45.5% and Austria at 20.7%, and across all three countries chains now hold 39.3% of rooms, up from 36.6%.[1]
Which hotel chains are biggest in Switzerland?
| Group | Hotels | Rooms | Change in rooms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accor | 79 | 10,581 | +2% |
| Marriott International | 37 | 4,664 | +21% |
| IHG Hotels & Resorts | 16 | 3,053 | 0% |
| Radisson Hotel Group | 9 | 1,975 | 0% |
| Hilton Worldwide | 19 | 1,876 | -8% |
Source: Horwath HTL, Switzerland ranking by size, 30 June 2026.[2]
Not every chain is a global name. The largest Swiss-based groups are Michel Reybier Hospitality, Davos Klosters Bergbahnen and Hotels by Fassbind.[1] Geneva has the most chain rooms of any city, 7,931, just ahead of Zurich's 7,640, and it leads the development pipeline too, with 1,346 rooms.[1] Lucerne comes eighth, with 14 chain hotels and 1,306 rooms, and third in the pipeline, with two hotels and 372 rooms.[2] It's also the city where you'd spend your semesters on campus.[5]
What does the report say about working in Swiss hotels?
The Swiss chapter is upbeat about demand and blunt about costs. Rising labour costs and a lasting shortage of skilled workers are squeezing margins, and Horwath doesn't see that passing: the problems are structural, it says, not temporary.[2] Or, as its managing partner in Switzerland puts it, "the labour shortage is here to stay".[2]
So where's the most potential? At the two ends of the market: true luxury, and lean, highly digitalised mid-market hotels that run on efficient processes and know exactly which guests they're after.[2] Digital tools and artificial intelligence are turning into part of the daily routine, it adds, not an optional extra.[2]
What does this mean for your second year?
First, Swiss hotels come in two very different sizes. A 95-room chain hotel and a 33-room hotel, the Swiss average, are very different places to learn, and both make up a big part of the market. At BHMS, Year 2 starts with Semester 3 on campus and carries on with Semester 4, a six-month paid internship.[4] In Switzerland that placement pays CHF 2,390 a month gross, before deductions for room, board and social insurance.[4] Accor is among the more than 40 employer logos BHMS displays on its internships page, though BHMS doesn't publish a full partner list or a partner count.[5] Your German, French or Italian matters a lot for where you can work inside Switzerland, and Year 2 includes a Language Elective.[4]
Second, several Year 2 modules match what the report points to. Among Year 2's eight modules are Revenue Management, Digital Marketing and Front Office Operations Management, which between them cover pricing and distribution, the marketing that fills the rooms, and the front office as a system.[4] That's close to the efficiency and precise targeting Horwath describes.
Third, people. A staff shortage isn't a job offer, so don't read it as one. If Horwath is right, the hotels you work for are likely to be short of skilled staff and paying more for labour while you're there.[2] Strategic Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour Management are on your timetable that same year.[4]
You finish the year with the Higher Diploma in Business & Hospitality Management, and Year 3 leads to the BA awarded with Robert Gordon University in the UK.[4] One thing the report can't tell you is how a particular chain hires, or which roles it gives students. It counts rooms and owners, not internships. Treat it as a map, not a promise.
Want the detail? The Higher Diploma (Year 2) page takes you through the second year module by module, and the programmes overview sets it beside the other years and courses.