The number of hotel rooms sold in Sweden decreased in April by just over 3 percent, while hotel room prices decreased by 7 percent. In total, accommodation revenues decreased by 9 percent. 

The decrease in April was mainly due to ”Easter effects.” Normally, demand drops during the Easter holiday weeks, and this year they fell entirely in April, while they fell partly in March last year.

Of the major cities, demand in Stockholm decreased by 4 percent, in Malmö by 5 percent, while it increased in Gothenburg by 2 percent, compared to the same month last year. Outside the major cities, the number of hotel rooms sold decreased by 3 percent.

Accommodation companies' expectations for development still indicate some growth but have, according to the National Institute of Economic Research, become increasingly less optimistic. In addition, households' view of their current and future economic situation has clearly deteriorated in recent months as a result of an environment characterized by great uncertainty.

“The cocktail of unfortunate events that characterize economic development increases the need for action. For example, the government needs to lower employer contributions for young people – not least because youth unemployment is at a record high and continues to increase,” says Thomas Jakobsson, chief economist at Visita.

The reason data is presented for the 1st to the 28th of each month is to improve comparability by avoiding weekday effects over a full month, as demand naturally fluctuates across the week and a month spans more than four weeks.

The data is preliminary and refers to a selection of 726 open hotels in Sweden. The data is not calendar adjusted and does not take into account which days of the week various holidays or public holidays fall on.

According to the press release.