Geneva’s local rival to the Swiss franc and the Euro, the léman, has marked a milestone as merchants in nearby Lausanne have joined in accepting the alternate currency, whose value is pinned to the Euro.
The idea is to encourage locals and visitors to use the currency, accepted now in over 200 businesses, to buy local products and services. To buy anything else, the buyer would have to go to a local currency exchange first. The léman was launched last year, and is named for Lac Léman, French name for Lake Geneva.
It’s not a new concept; many other local currencies have existed over time, including a number in England and the U.S. In the case of the léman, there’s a little twist: its value is fixed at 1 Euro, but its value in its own country therefore varies with the exchange rate between the Euro and the Swiss franc. For visitors, that will make less difference than for locals.
The Lausanne members of the project hope to get a big headstart this weekend by making a splash at the city’s Festival de la Terre this weekend. The Festival promotes slow food and local artisan products.
Photo: Lausanne Tourism office
