Weak Rupiah Hits Switzerland’s Tourism
Jakarta. The weak rupiah has discouraged Indonesians from traveling to Switzerland, making Jakarta a small Southeast Asian market for the picturesque country.
Data from Switzerland Tourism, the national travel marketing organization, showed a year-on-year (yoy) double-digit drop in tourism numbers from Indonesia.
Between January and August 2026, Switzerland saw 35,124 overnights from Indonesian travelers. This marked a 38.7% yoy decline from the 57,255 overnights seen the previous year. It’s also getting more expensive for Indonesians to spend their Swiss holidays.
In August 2025, the rupiah to Swiss franc (CHF) rate peaked at Rp 20,507. The rupiah weakened by 8.93% to Rp 22,339 the same month this year. Swiss Ambassador-Designate to Indonesia Konstantin Obolensky told reporters that several factors had led to the drop in travelers.
“It’s not only the Swiss franc-rupiah exchange rate. Fuels and jet fuels have become more expensive,” Obolensky said, alluding to the Iran war-related energy price hikes.
Switzerland Tourism revealed that a combination of a robust economy, direct flights, and visa-free treatment gave Singaporeans a leg up. The city-state made up 34.8% of the Southeast Asian overnights that Switzerland recorded in January-August 2026.
Thailand ranked second at 25.8% as its large Swiss community would travel back to their hometowns for family reunions.
Close neighbor Malaysia is at 17% as its passport holders can enter the country without a visa for a short stay of up to 90 days.
The Philippines sits in fourth place (11.4%), which Switzerland Tourism ascribed to its economic growth. Indonesia was last of the five at just 11%.
The country registered at least 282,831 overnights from Southeast Asia over the same eight-month period, down 21.3% yoy.
Obolensky said there were no plans at the moment for a visa-free facility for Indonesians.
“But in the end, the visa fee makes only a very tiny percentage of all the costs of a Switzerland trip.”
2026 has been tough for the rupiah. The Indonesian currency has consistently breached the psychological threshold of Rp 18,000 per dollar.
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