For the camping chain First Camp, the government's announcement to lift travel restrictions is good news.

”It is of course incredibly gratifying, we have been waiting a long time,” says CEO Johan Söör.

Scandinavia's largest camping company First Camp, with a turnover of 400 million SEK in 2019, is experiencing a drop in bookings of around 20-30 percent.

With the government's new announcement, CEO Johan Stöör hopes that some of the loss can be made up for.

”"It's incredibly gratifying that it's coming now, we've been waiting a long time and are used to having the planning ready already in March. Now we've had to wait until June and have had to work with many different scenarios."”

First Camp has 44 destinations, 39 of which are in Sweden. A quarter of visitors come from abroad, which makes it tough despite the easing of restrictions for traveling Swedes. However, bookings have been pouring in recently. Camping at home has become an alternative to traveling abroad, Johan Söör believes.

”"There is a lot of interest in coming out to camp, you have your own vehicle, you usually have your own kitchen and toilet in the camper or caravan, so as summer has approached, people have been booking."”

The favorite destinations are in Halland and Skåne. Skånska Torekov, for example, is popular, but during the corona crisis, more secluded places such as Hökensås outside Tidaholm and Ånnaboda outside Örebro have also become attractive.

”Campsites that are doing worse than usual are where there is a high proportion of Norwegian guests, such as Strömstad, Luleå and Karlstad,” says Johan Söör.

Source:di.se