July 2022 was one of the best summer months ever for the Umeå tourism industry. According to preliminary data from the Benchmarking Alliance, the average occupancy rate at the city's hotels was 78.9 percent, with a total of 34,043 rooms sold. The variable weather in July and a record-breaking range of events are some of the reasons for the positive development.
– We are very happy that our forecasts have come true, this is a very important development for our hotels that have struggled and struggled through the pandemic, says Gabriella Hed Vall, acting CEO at Visit Umeå. We have a fantastic range of events this summer, which both entertain the residents of Umeå and attract incoming visitors. There is a pent-up need to socialize, travel to loved ones and do fun things and Umeå's offer invites this. It is also fantastic that traffic across the Kvarken is rolling like never before, as Wasaline's figures show. Finnish visitors have always been important for trade, the tourism industry and events in Umeå.
Strong development in 2022
The strong development for Umeå has continued throughout the year. Since February this year, the record year 2019 has been surpassed month after month in terms of occupancy rates at Umeå hotels, data from Benchmarking Alliance shows. The best months so far this year are July with an average occupancy of 78.9 percent compared to 70.3 percent in the same month in 2019, May with an average occupancy of 79.3 percent compared to 67.8 percent in 2019. The increase in June was slightly smaller with an average occupancy of 68.5 percent compared to 65.6 percent in 2019.
Umeå Football Festival, Lars Winnerbäck and Wheels are some of the major events that have attracted an extra large number of visitors.
– When we look ahead, things continue to look positive. The fall is full of events and meetings of all kinds and we believe that our local markets will continue to do well. For example, we have both the final game in TV-puck and the SDF-SM in floorball during the fall break, which guarantees a full house in the city, says Gabriella.
