Sweden's ambassador to Iceland takes his task of marketing Sweden very seriously.
This summer, Håkan Juholt will open a tourist office in the residence.
Anyone visiting Reykjavik during the World Cup may also have the chance to take a penalty against the ambassador.
Håkan Juholt says that the initiative is a natural part of the embassy's operations, even though the approach may be new in diplomatic circles.
”"One of my important tasks is to highlight Sweden as a tourist destination," he tells TT.
The target group of the campaign is to attract 300,000 Icelanders to visit Sweden, but also to reach the approximately 2.5 million foreign visitors who come to Reykjavik every year.
”"Our idea is to make them curious about Sweden as their next travel destination. My hope is that many of those who go home after their holiday in Iceland will already be sitting on the way home with a small brochure about Sweden and thinking: Hm, maybe we should take our next trip to Sweden," explains Juholt and adds:
”"With the slogan: Did you like Iceland? Then you will love Sweden."”
On June 6, the residence in central Reykjavik will open an exhibition with information about different travel destinations in Sweden. During the World Cup, Håkan Juholt and his colleagues will be on site in the square during Swedish and Icelandic match days.
”We plan to set up a soccer goal where you can score penalties against the ambassador and a table football game where you can face the ambassador,” he says.
He has also involved his German colleague.
”"Sweden meets Germany on June 23. I have been in contact with my German colleague and together we will come up with something that day to showcase our countries in central Reykjavik."”
Other features are "Visit Sweden Days" outside Ikea, H&M and other Swedish companies.
The embassy's regular work is at a low level during the summer, as many government agencies and other activities in Iceland are closed. Therefore, there is time to market Sweden, according to Ambassador Juholt.
On his Facebook page, the former S leader writes that "Visit Sweden thinks Iceland is uninteresting, so I'm taking matters into my own hands and opening a tourist village in the residence." He tells TT that he is not critical of Visit Sweden.
”"Visit Sweden has limited resources and Iceland is a small country. I understand that you can't market Sweden all over the world. Then we at the embassy can do it instead."”
Håkan Juholt makes no secret of the fact that he looks forward to going out and meeting people and telling them about Sweden.
Source: TT
