Learn English – “the chapter has been published” or “the chapter was published”

The past tense and present perfect tense may seem similar, but they are very different. The past tense describes a specific event, e.g. "John ate an apple". It's like a story.

The present perfect tense on the other hand is not a description of a specific event. It is only an assertion that there exists an event fitting the details of that sentence, and the event completed before the present. "John has eaten an apple" means the event of "John eats an apple" occured at least once in John's lifetime.

If I were to draw a picture that directly represents "John ate an apple", I would draw a picture of a man eating an apple, an the "time within the drawing" would be in the past.

If I were to draw a picture that directly represents "John has eaten an apple", I would draw nothing, because the sentence is just an abstract fact like "Most people use cellphones".

Therefore, if someone asks you,

What did you do for the holidays

You should reply with a description of "what you did for the holidays". You can give a description by using the past tense. You could say:

I went to Switzerland

If you had replied "I have been/gone to Switzerland" it would feel very out of place -as if you were saying a random fact about yourself.

Keep in mind that I these are just my observations as an American English speaker. I've heard that British speakers use the present perfect tense to also describe specific events, but Im not sure.