Approximately
60% of the Swiss population live within 1 hours travel of another country
so if the price of something is too high they simply go next door for it.
An example of how this works would be dentistry. The price of dentistry in
Switzerland is high this has resulted in the German town of Waldshut, which
is just across the border, having the highest density of dental practices
in Germany. The same sort of thing happens at weekends for all sorts of other
goods and services. So much so that at times it can be very difficult crossing
the border as people go north to do the weekend shop. All this indicates just
how impossible exploitative price fixing would be.
The effect of this 'imaginary' price fixing is that businesses have to compete on service instead of price as a cup of coffee is going to be the same all over the area. This probably accounts for the minor difference in price between restaurants at the bottom of mountains and those at the top. This was a pleasant surprise for us the first time we indulged in lunch on a mountain top.
