As China has now eased its COVID-19 travel rules, tour groups can once again book holidays to Switzerland. In Geneva, watchmakers are hoping this will mean a boost in sales in the luxury market. 

"Since the end of 2019, we had about zero Chinese customers," says Olivier Zbinden who runs his own boutique store. He thinks it could take until summer for sales to customers from southeast Asia to hit pre-pandemic levels. "We are very happy and looking forward to seeing them again."

READ MORE

EU Parliament chief promises reforms

Climate scientists camp at Davos

China and U.S. can cooperate

The Swiss watch industry is booming, with last year's exports going above $26 billion for the first time. It was an increase of over 11 percent on 2021 and the trend is expected to continue this year. 

This growth happened despite declines in sales from China due to pandemic restrictions. On the other hand, sales to the U.S. rose by more than a quarter, helping the U.S. retain top place in the rankings.

Just a couple of weeks ago, shares in Swatch, the world's biggest watchmaker, hit their highest level in nearly two and a half years on expectations of a recovery in luxury demand from China. 

And it said that sales in China in January alone already exceeded levels recorded in previous January.

Good news for the Swiss watch industry, the country's third biggest export sector after chemicals and machinery, but not because of production volume, instead it is because of value. 

The price of a luxury watch starts at around $7,000.

"Swiss watches have more than 50 percent of the shares of the world watch industry in terms of value," Jean-Daniel Pasche from Switzerland's watch industry federation told CGTN. "And we know that the Chinese people like to buy watches in Switzerland because it is the origin, it is a kind of emotion to buy a Swiss watch in Switzerland."

But even though sales are going up again, Swiss watchmakers are facing various challenges, from rising costs for energy and raw materials to difficulties in recruiting. Like many other sectors, the watch industry may need more time to deal with demand in the coming months.

Cover image: Johannes Pleschberger/CGTN