a total of 2,349 apartments (87.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 257 apartments (9.6%) were seasonally occupied and 66 apartments (2.5%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 5.4 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent an average apartment in Visp was 923.95 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$740, £420, €590 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 436.43 CHF (US$350, £200, €280), a two-room apartment was about 610.65 CHF (US$490, £270, €390), a three-room apartment was about 833.36 CHF (US$670, £380, €530) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 936.90 CHF (US$750, £420, €600). The average apartment price in Visp was 82.8% of the national average of 1116 CHF. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.95%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Sights The entire small city of Visp is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. Politics In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 62.91% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (16.23%), the SVP (14.67%) and the FDP (3.81%). In the federal election, a total of 2,732 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 60.1%. In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 2,235 votes were cast, of which 239 or about 10.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 49.3%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 2,731 votes were cast, of which 74 or about 2.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 60.6%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%. Economy The major employer in the town is the chemical company, LONZA AG, which employs about 2,550 people. Visp is the economic center of the region and draws workers from many surrounding towns and even from Italy. This leads to a unique situation where there are more jobs in Visp than the total population (7,700 positions for a population of about 6,700). , Visp had an unemployment rate of 2.2%. , there were 63 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 21 businesses involved in this sector. 4,288 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 93 businesses in this sector. 3,901 people were employed