Published on : 14 Sep 2026
Switzerland doesn’t do dramatic policy overhauls very often — but September 2026 is bringing enough small, cumulative changes that anyone planning a trip through the country this month should take five minutes to check the list.
The most immediately relevant change for travelers arrived right at the start of the month: online travel agency Ebookers discontinued its Swiss operations entirely as of September 2, 2026. New trips can no longer be booked through Ebookers.ch or its associated app, and the Swiss website now redirects users to Hotels.com — both platforms being part of the Expedia Group. If you have an existing Ebookers.ch booking, its validity depends on when it was originally made, so it’s worth confirming directly with the platform or your specific hotel/airline if your travel falls anywhere in the coming months.
The second major travel-relevant change is the one this site covered in detail earlier today: the Gotthard Road Tunnel, Switzerland’s primary north-south Alpine crossing, is closing nightly from 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM this week (September 14-18) as part of ongoing preventive maintenance on its ceiling structure — one stretch within a broader 2026 program that has closed the tunnel for 34 nights total across March, June, August, September, and early October.
Published: September 14, 2026 — Monday Ebookers Switzerland: Discontinued as of September 2, 2026 — no new bookings via Ebookers.ch or its app; site now redirects to Hotels.com Existing Ebookers bookings: Validity depends on original booking date — confirm directly Gotthard Tunnel: Closed nightly 8PM-5AM, September 14-18, 2026 (see our full dedicated coverage) Canton Bern — Data Protection: Revised cantonal Data Protection Act takes effect this month; over 1,000 Bernese municipalities and public bodies now fall under direct cantonal data protection authority supervision (Bern, Biel/Bienne, Köniz, and Thun retain their own separate offices) Canton Basel-Stadt — Public Sector Pay: New salary package for civil servants largely implemented from September 1, including higher starting wages and increased night/Sunday/holiday/on-call allowances; full cost-of-living adjustment across all pay grades follows January 1, 2027 Canton Basel-Stadt — Police: New field service allowance planned for cantonal police officers; details not yet finalized Canton Schwyz — Administrative Buildings: Dogs no longer permitted in government offices as of September 1 (service dogs exempted); a rule that technically existed since 2010 but was inconsistently enforced until now Outdoor fire regulations: Vary by canton — some regions have eased restrictions again; no uniform nationwide rule, so check locally before lighting any outdoor fire
Most of September’s changes are, on their face, domestic Swiss administrative matters with little obvious relevance to a UK, US, Canadian, or Australian visitor. But two of them intersect directly with how international travelers actually experience the country.
The Ebookers closure matters because Ebookers has historically been a common booking channel for European travelers specifically, distinct from more US-centric platforms — anyone with bookings made through the Swiss site in recent months, or who was planning to use it for an upcoming trip, needs to redirect their planning to Hotels.com or another platform immediately.
The Gotthard closures matter because, as covered in our dedicated piece on this topic, there’s no way to avoid Switzerland’s Alpine road network if you’re driving between northern Europe and Italy — meaning a scheduling detail that sounds like local infrastructure news is, in practice, a real trip-planning constraint for a specific and fairly large category of international travelers.
Data protection (Canton Bern): While this is primarily a matter for Swiss businesses and municipal bodies rather than individual travelers, it’s part of a broader pattern of Swiss cantons tightening their own data protection frameworks in parallel with the national Federal Act on Data Protection — worth knowing if you do business with Bernese municipal services or organizations during your visit.
Public sector pay (Basel-Stadt): Not directly traveler-relevant, but a signal of the kind of cost-of-living adjustments happening across Swiss cantons this year — Switzerland remains one of the more expensive countries for international travelers, and public sector wage movements like this one are one of the underlying indicators of that broader cost trend.
No dogs in Schwyz government offices: A curiosity more than a travel disruption, but a reminder that Swiss administrative rules can vary meaningfully canton by canton — a pattern that also applies to outdoor fire regulations, where there’s explicitly no single nationwide rule.
✅ If you booked through Ebookers.ch, confirm your booking’s status directly rather than assuming it remains fully valid ✅ If you’re driving between northern Europe and Italy this week, review our full Gotthard Tunnel closure guide for alternative route options ✅ If your trip involves an outdoor fire or barbecue in any Swiss region, check the current local regulation rather than assuming a blanket national rule applies ✅ Budget accordingly — Switzerland’s cost of living continues trending upward, as reflected in this month’s various cantonal wage adjustments
Federal Roads Office (ASTRA): astra.admin.ch Switzerland Tourism: myswitzerland.com Hotels.com (Ebookers successor platform): hotels.com
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Posted By : Vinay
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