Tourism, hotels and financial services

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The second half of the nineteenth century made Geneva a stopping point on the international tourist circuit. The railway brought travellers from all over Europe, who came to admire the lake and Mont Blanc or to continue on to Chamonix. The grand hotels on the lakeshore received a wealthy clientele. Travel agencies, carriage-hire businesses and luxury shops developed.

This tourist activity created specific financial needs. Travellers needed to change their money, to have funds at their disposal during their stay and to transfer money. Letters of credit, which allowed funds to be withdrawn from correspondent banks in different cities, came into general use. Traveller’s cheques appeared at the end of the century.¹ The Geneva bankers served this passing clientele, part of which became a lasting one.

Luxury hotels and private banking share common values: discretion, personalised service and the reception of a demanding international clientele. This affinity, which is reflected in the image of Geneva as a city of high-end services, contributes to the attractiveness of the financial centre for foreign fortunes.

Notes

Wikipedia (en), “Traveller’s cheque”: first traveller’s cheques issued on 1 January 1772 by the London Credit Exchange Company; Thomas Cook’s “circular notes” in 1874; “American Express developed a large-scale international traveller’s cheque system in 1891, to supersede the traditional letters of credit” (Marcellus Flemming Berry). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

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Tourism, hotels and financial services

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?