The Jungfraubahn cog railway line, considered pioneering for the steep incline of its 7-kilometre tunnel hewn into the Eiger and Moench mountains, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The train's history is emblematic of the evolution of Swiss tourism.

A century ago, during the train's first year of service, 39,000 travellers ascended to the Jungfrau's observation deck, nearly 3,500 metres above sea level. Most of them were European, a spokesman for the railway said.

In 2011, 60 percent of the 765,000 visitors to the site, a must-see in Switzerland for many tourists, were from Asia.

Hoteliers and restaurateurs have complained about the impact of the soaring safe-haven franc, which has risen by nearly a third since the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, prompting the Swiss National Bank to set a cap of 1.20 per euro last September to stave off a recession.

Yet there is a silver lining. Since the cap was imposed the franc has tracked the euro, and as the single currency suffered because of the euro zone debt crisis, the franc has fallen alongside it. That has helped boost Switzerland's appeal to visitors from outside the euro zone.

Since late March, the franc has lost 10 percent of its value against the dollar, fallen 14 percent against the yen, and eased nearly 8 percent against the South Korean won.

Accordingly, while Swiss statistics office data show that overnight hotel stays by Europeans slipped 4.6 percent in May from a year ago, those by Asian tourists rose 8.3 percent, confirming the trend of previous months. Stays by mainland Chinese jumped 34 percent in May, those by Gulf visitors rose 22 percent and for Japanese they climbed 13 percent.

Moreover, tourists from Asia and the Middle East tend to spend more than their European counterparts. As well as trinkets like cow coffee mugs, shops in towns like Interlaken or Lucerne do a roaring trade in watches from Swatch Group and Richemont , with brands such as Cartier and Tissot as per a Reuters report.

While Germans and Italians spend 150 Swiss francs a day on average, visitors from the Gulf spend 500 francs a day, a study by tourism board MySwitzerland shows. Chinese average 350 francs in spending a day and Indians average 300 francs. 

"Asian business is going swimmingly," said Simon Bickel, Jungfrau railway spokesman, adding that the Asian influx has more than compensated for a fall in European visitors due to the debt crisis.

Asian tourists began arriving in larger numbers about 20 years ago, and the last decade has seen a marked rise in Indian and Chinese visitors as Asia's economic growth accelerated, Bickel said.

Visits from mainland China have increased in recent years as Beijing relaxed rules on overseas travel. A survey in April by Ctrip.com, a large online travel service provider, showed that Switzerland was the favourite European destination for Chinese travellers.

The Swiss have also launched marketing campaigns abroad to attract new visitors.

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