• 

Despite a historic expansion of hotel rooms, Stockholm is short of beds for its guests. 

”The number of rooms will not be enough for the expected increase in guests,” says Tora Holm at Invest Stockholm. 

Over the next five years, Stockholm County is planning for 4,900 more hotel rooms. In addition, there is a possibility that the market will add up to an additional 1,600 rooms, through planned projects that are currently considered uncertain. 

Despite this, there is expected to be a shortage of hotel rooms in the future. At least 1,000 additional rooms are in demand, according to the Hotel Report, which is produced by Invest Stockholm. 

”"The main reason is that demand is expected to grow more than supply. If you count the number of rooms, they will not be enough if you look at the expected increase," says Tora Holm, business developer at Invest Stockholm. 

According to the report, it is mainly visitors from India, China and the USA that are expected to increase, which is due to a growing middle class in Asia. However, the establishment of new flight routes to Stockholm is also increasing the number of international visitors to Stockholm. 

”"It is important that hotels grow as the tourism industry and the city grow. If there are no hotel rooms, people may choose to go somewhere else," says Tora Holm. 

Business travelers have historically been in the majority when it comes to commercial overnight stays. But right now there is a trend shift and private travelers are starting to reach a similar level as business travelers, according to Tora Holm.

Historically, Stockholm has been growing by 700 new hotel rooms per year. But 2017 stood out from previous years when the city's hotel stock was added by more than 1,800 rooms, corresponding to an increase of 7.6 percent compared to the previous year. 

”"Demand in Stockholm has increased tremendously and that is very positive. We have had a major expansion of capacity and that has put pressure on prices and profitability," says Thomas Jakobsson, head of industry economics at the industry organization Visita. 

The forecast for 2018 to 2022 is that supply will increase by 3.4 percent per year, while the number of rooms sold is expected to increase to 3.7, leaving Stockholm with a continued gap in the search for rooms.

”"We would like to see more hotels and we are trying to make Stockholm even more international and bring in more foreign chains," says Tora Holm. 

According to her, one of the reasons for the lack of hotels is the high office rents and the low vacancy rate. This means that property owners do not see opportunities to convert to hotels, as offices are so favorable. But that will certainly change when the office market declines, she continues. 

However, there is no lack of interest for foreign players to be the first to establish themselves in the Swedish market. 

”"They see Stockholm as a cutting-edge city that is trendy and conscious. And that interest has increased a lot in the last five years," says Tora Holm. 

In 2017, Stockholm had over 14 million commercial guest nights for all types of establishments, from hotels to campsites. This placed Stockholm in 12th place among European cities. The annual growth rate of commercial guest nights in the capital is 4.7 percent between 2000 and 2017.

The ten largest operators in Stockholm County account for a quarter of the county's hotels and over half of all rooms. At the same time, a third of the room supply belongs to the two largest operators.

Source: di.se