A lack of resources is making the granting of Schengen visas more difficult. Tour operators are feeling the pinch.
On July 19, Swiss tour operators received a notification from the Swiss embassy in New Delhi saying that, owing to the high volume of visa applications, no more applications could be accepted for group travel by company employees until and including September.
Tour operators have been asked to plan such trips for a later date so that visas can be submitted and issued in time, according to an article in Tamedia newspapers on Saturday.
For many tour operators these trips are among the most profitable in their business. They often involve hundreds of people at a time who, for example, get the trip donated by their bosses as a reward for success. In 2019, for example, 12,000 Chinese received the trip as a present from their company and descended on Switzerland in three groups.