Swiss hotel posts sign asking Jewish guests 'to shower before swimming'
Switzerland's tourism office has expressed regret over an "unfortunate" incident in which a small Swiss Alpine hotel posted a sign asking "Jewish guests" to shower before swimming in the hotel pool.
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre demanded the closure of the Paradies Arosa hotel in eastern Arosa.
On Twitter, Israeli deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely called for "justice".
Swiss Tourism spokesman Markus Berger called the sign "unacceptable", adding it has been removed and hotel management has apologised.
Under "To our Jewish Guests", the sign read: "Please take a shower before you go swimming. If you break the rules, I am forced to cloes (sic) the swimming pool for you. Thank you for your understanding."
Mr Berger cited a trend among some Orthodox Jews of summer travel to the area.
He said he did not know the origin of the trend, but that numbers "definitely in the thousands" have grown in recent years.
He said many area hotels serve kosher food and that Jewish guests "feel well-treated".
"It's just this one lady at this one hotel who was not on top of the situation," Mr Berger said. "It's an isolated incident that doesn't need for greater action to be taken."
Switzerland's foreign ministry said it has been in touch with the Israeli ambassador and "outlined to him that Switzerland condemns racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination in any form".
A spokesman added: "Switzerland has been strongly committed for years - as it is at the moment, for example, within its presidency for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance - to raise awareness to the dangers of racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination."
AP
