Basel Tourism Flourishes ; Bank Robber to Face Justice ;Sommercasino Basel to Relaunch; InnerCity Traffic Rules Revised

Thanks to an ebbing European financial crisis, public and private investment in travel related infrastructure and the cultural merits of Basel, the city is enjoying a robust tourist industry.  Above and beyond a substantial and growing foreign expatriate presence, tourism as measured by overnight stays in local hotels grew by 2% last year exceeding the expectations set by the Basel Tourism board and according to its director Daniel Egloff.  Europeans who see their economic fortunes recover find it easy to come to basel thanks to inexpensive flights provided by EasyJet which services the local airport and travelers from other continents find it a convenient and culturally significant jumping-off point for their Swiss and continental travel plans.  Just last week, the New York Times featured a travel article highlighting how to spend 36 hours in Basel, likely contributing to continued tourism growth in 2014.    

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  Last April The Riehen branch of the Raiffeisen bank was robbed by two culprits wielding stun guns.  After making off with 27000 francs law enforcement caught up with them later in August, and as they attempted escape, one of the robbers used an apprehending police officers guns to kill himself.  The police had been led to the criminals when they sloppily attempted to hide another safe they had stolen in a carnival wagon.  The safe was found and reported by the wagon owner to the authorities, that waited for the criminals to return, which is when they tried to arrest them. The remaining accomplice will face the judge this week in Basel criminal court to hear his sentence.  

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For generations of Basel teenagers the Sommercasino in Basel's Gellert district was the entree to nightlife.  Featuring live bands, beer and wine and an outdoor stage with plenty of room for dancing, moshing and bbq the venue featured internationally recognized dance djs and rock bands.  However, this emphasis starting in 2012 on more popular, and hence more expensive bands led the establishment deeper into financial distress instead of generating the attendance which the owners were hoping would lead it out of the red.  Christian Platz, president of the Basel Youth Works which supports and is responsible for the sommercasino, says the venue will be relaunched this upcoming outdoor concert season with an emphasis on a broader concept of coolness and will try to shed its kindergarten night life image   

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the saga continues with the developing story we've been reporting on about new traffic rules in Basel's innerstadt.  it seems members of Basel's Grand Council have come under intense pressure from their commercial constituents to revise the rules to allow for more commercial traffic.  So far the only commercial winners with the new rules are courier companies that typically employ bicycles to make their deliveries.  In addition, the existing rules will allow the same couriers to use vehicles deemed Green, including electric motor vehicles in the inner district.  No such luck for pizza restaurants, which have been fighting to be granted the same exemptions as the couriers to no avail so far.  The implication of course is that they'll have to employ the courier services and pass the costs on to consumers, hurting their business.  Its all very confusing for now, so stay tuned as the council fine-tunes the traffic rules.