Visit Sweden, together with the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, has conducted a feasibility study on the development potential of cultural tourism for Sweden.

The feasibility study shows that Sweden has good conditions to develop cultural tourism into an important and significant attraction for Sweden as a country and tourist destination. The feasibility study has been submitted to the Ministry of Culture.

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  Today, there is no national coordination of Sweden's cultural attractiveness, which creates ambiguity and the positive stories about Sweden's magical cultural offerings do not reach potential visitors, says Susanne Andersson, CEO of Visit Sweden.

With its cultural breadth around both cultural heritage and rich history as well as contemporary culture in the form of design, technology, architecture and lifestyle in general, the potential for cultural tourism in Sweden is great. 

Thanks to its already well-developed nature tourism, Sweden has great opportunities to integrate nature tourism with cultural tourism, which creates effective and long-term conditions for, among other things, communication and marketing to attract visitors and tourists - something that contributes to more jobs, increased revenue for both companies and public administration, a more positive image of Sweden and increased dissemination of Swedish culture internationally.

• With the preliminary study, we want to find out whether cultural tourism is an area worth investing in for Sweden as a nation and what, if anything, would be most effective, says Susanne Andersson.

Visit Sweden, the Swedish state's marketing company for the tourist destination Sweden, highlights on a daily basis things that the company knows attract more conscious travelers. 

With national coordination and dedicated financial resources for cultural tourism, Visit Sweden believes that the effectiveness of marketing efforts would increase when it becomes possible to add the cultural values that attract visitors.

Visit Sweden also notes that cultural tourism that attracts and reaches out would actively contribute to a more positive image of Sweden than the negative narratives about Sweden that have dominated international media for a long time.

• Through a conscious investment in cultural tourism, we are given more sustainable arguments to increase curiosity about Sweden and the Swedish, concludes Susanne Andersson.

The preliminary study draws the following conclusions:

• In order for many different actors to more easily agree and effectively and long-term develop and communicate about cultural tourism, a broad definition of cultural tourism is needed and appropriate in Sweden.
• Public, non-profit and commercial forces need to collaborate more.
• Funding needs to be matched to the needs of cultural tourism.
• Place development should be linked even more closely with cultural tourism.
• Sweden urgently needs to take a stronger position in international cultural tourism. Competition from other nations is also rapidly intensifying in this area.
• Increased opportunities to share existing knowledge are needed.
• In-depth studies are needed that create a better understanding of the target group's driving forces, demand and behaviors, as well as the competition for cultural tourists.

Trends in global cultural tourism among the target group of curious explorers with an interest in culture are:

• Authentic and memorable experiences.
• The desire to experience everyday celebrations and local entertainment.
• The desire to visit and contribute to a more sustainable culture.
• Constant cultural development that creates new opportunities for product and business development.

What travelers want:

• Experience the Swedish lifestyle and culture.
• See new cities and places.
• Learn something new on the trip.
• Have time to see and do as much as possible in Sweden during your stay.

According to the press release.