Can Swedish food tourism be the salvation? Sweden's tourism industry offers attractions and Visit Sweden's marketing reaches several billion people, but tourists choose Sweden's neighboring countries to a greater extent. The image of Sweden in foreign media in the past year, poorer accessibility for international visitors to get here may be reasons.
Sweden's neighboring countries to a greater extent. The image of Sweden in foreign media in the past year, poorer accessibility for international visitors to get here may be reasons.
Now that the latest guest night statistics for Sweden from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth are in place, various actors are conducting their own analyses. Things are going better in some parts of the country, for some places and cities at certain times – and less well for others.
The state marketing company for the tourist country of Sweden, Visit Sweden, has also looked at the statistics, as well as done its own research to get a better idea of the situation, for its planning of future marketing efforts.
- Things are going slower for tourism in Sweden than you might think, but we see, for example, that interest in Swedish food and Swedish dining experiences is super hot, says Visit Sweden CEO Susanne Andersson.
International interest in Sweden as a travel destination continues to increase
International and travel-related Google searches for Sweden have increased by 117 percent in quarter one of 2024 compared to quarter one of 2023. Google searches for Sweden in general have increased by 8% in 2023 compared to 2022 and when compared to 2019, the increase is 39%.
Visit Sweden's marketing of Sweden as a travel destination reached approximately 2.7 billion people (gross) in 2023. After the latest campaign about the travel destination Sweden from Visit Sweden, 89 percent said in a survey that they are more interested in visiting Sweden than before.
The marketing of Sweden as a tourist destination thus contributes greatly to strengthening the image of Sweden internationally. Sweden's tourism industry is an increasingly important showcase for Sweden, while at the same time the tourism industry strengthens local social development.
- It is important that we create a strong and recognizable brand for the destination Sweden over time to attract the right visitors who generate revenue for Swedish companies and the state. The success of our marketing is evident in the statistics for searches about Sweden, says Visit Sweden's Marketing Manager Nils Persson.
The graph below shows the international development of tourism-related Googling about Sweden. That is, cleared of negative, non-tourist-related events such as Koran burnings, the protracted NATO process, gang violence, bombings, terrorist threats and so on.
Tourists go to Denmark and Norway instead
Tourism to Europe is the fastest recovering after the pandemic, but Sweden is lagging behind. When the guest night statistics of the Nordic countries are now compared in a new and unique compilation by Visit Sweden, it becomes clear that Sweden's recovery is going worse than that of its Nordic neighbors Denmark and Norway.
- It is true that tourism from abroad to Sweden has increased slightly since 2022 and Sweden is back at about the same level as in 2019, but if you look up a little and compare it to our Nordic neighbors, it doesn't look as good, says Susanne Andersson, CEO of Visit Sweden.
While the number of nights spent in Sweden by foreign tourists is increasing slightly, domestic tourists are decreasing. And since domestic tourism accounts for approximately 75% of tourism in Sweden, the decrease may be noticeable in some places.
- The increase in foreign tourists does not correspond to the decrease in Swedish tourists, but it is too early to predict this ahead of the big summer tourism season, says Susanne.
Accessibility to Sweden is decreasing – interest in traveling here is increasing
According to Google, interest in how to get to Sweden will increase by just over 18 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. Flying to Sweden is the thing that most people search for information about internationally, while searches about driving to Sweden have the largest increase in the number of searches.
Searches for how to take a ferry to Sweden have also increased, by 8 percent, in 2023 compared to 2022. Interest in traveling to Sweden by train even shows an increase of 19 percent internationally.
At the same time, it now appears that accessibility to Sweden by plane and ferry is going in the opposite direction. At least if you compare the full year 2023 with the full year 2019. In other words, accessibility to Sweden does not correspond to demand, one could say.
Fewer flights to Arlanda
The ability to fly to Sweden's largest and most important hub for international tourism to all of Sweden, Arlanda, was at around 75 percent of 2019 capacity (number of flights and departures) in 2023, according to a compilation produced by Swedavia and Visit Sweden.
Accessibility by ferry to Sweden is decreasing
According to a brand new, and previously unpublished, compilation that Visit Sweden asked the knowledge authority for Swedish transport policy, Traffic Analysis (TRAFA), to produce the number of ferry lines to Sweden and the number of calls at Swedish ports of regular ferry traffic from abroad in 2019 and 2023, shows that accessibility to Sweden by ferry from abroad, according to their preliminary figures, is only at an 80 percent level in 2023 compared to 2019.
There have been slightly fewer lines and also fewer calls in 2023 compared to 2019. Ferry traffic has not recovered after the pandemic and is approximately 80% of 2019 levels.
Traffic analysis produces knowledge base for decision-makers in transport policy on behalf of the government.
Fewer Öresund crossings in 2023
According to the Öresund Institute's annual report, the number of passenger cars passing across Öresund (via bridge or ferry) was six percent fewer in the full year 2023 than in the full year 2019.
- We certainly hope that in 2024 it will be easier for everyone interested to get to Sweden, says Susanne Andersson.
- Visit Sweden is not a statistics company, but we have sought a better understanding of how accessible Sweden is from abroad, not how many passengers have traveled here by different forms of transport in order to effectively plan our marketing work. And as a state-owned company, we always share the insights and facts we obtain, says Susanne Andersson.
Several factors that affect tourism to Sweden
In addition to the ability to travel to Sweden, there are many factors that influence the development of tourism to Sweden from abroad. Many of them affect the perception of, i.e. the image of, Sweden.
There are a number of driving forces for traveling and a number of prerequisites. Here is information about the driving forces for the target group that Visit Sweden has identified for the tourist country of Sweden. Prerequisites include:
Knowledge of Sweden and Sweden as a tourist country.
That Sweden is a peripheral country in Northern Europe that many people still perceive as cold and expensive is confirmed in a recent target group analysis, which underlines the need for continued marketing. That Visit Sweden, with its creative marketing, reaches many people often, i.e. with high frequency, is important in maintaining the awareness that the marketing creates.
Today, Visit Sweden faces the challenge of maintaining the awareness that marketing creates, i.e. with frequency. Frequency is expensive to maintain and the current government funding to the company is not enough.
Possibility to get to Sweden by plane, ferry, bus, train and with your own vehicle from abroad.
The travelers' own life and financial situation.
Not a driving force but a prerequisite. More about this can be found via the link above. Many countries that are important to Sweden have had tough economic times in recent years. But people seem to be choosing to travel cheaper instead of stopping traveling.
The Swedish currency.
The large target group interested in Sweden has not been that affected by the currency historically. At the same time, we are now seeing an increase in interest in currency issues among international travelers (see below).
Perceived safety and security.
The most important factor for the desire to travel. Extremely few travel to places and holidays that they perceive as unsafe and insecure. This issue is a bit of a challenge as Sweden continues to have a heightened terrorist threat level, which brings with it travel recommendations and restrictions from various countries.
Influence campaigns from foreign powers against Sweden and Swedish interests.
This has literally exploded in recent years according to the Psychological Defense Agency.
Image of Sweden, media image and media reporting about Sweden.
There have been frequent reports in foreign media about various negative events in Sweden, something that has caused many to react, for example: Koran burnings, the NATO issue, gang violence, bombings, unstable weather, amusement park accidents, disruptions in passenger transport, etc. This more directly affects those who are in the process of booking a trip and who are looking for information about Sweden.
The image of Sweden, i.e. the perception of Sweden in general, is fairly intact and positive around the world, according to the Swedish Institute. Although it has deteriorated somewhat in specific parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. But Sweden has no tourism to speak of from these countries.
The war in Ukraine, geopolitical unrest and Russia's recurring border provocations.
People who know Sweden a little less are affected by this more than those who know Sweden well. Uncertainty about what is perceived to be happening in Sweden's "nearby area" discourages travel.
The world googled the travel destination Sweden
That interest in how to get to Sweden is great is shown by a compilation of what the world Googled about Sweden in 2023. There is a whole list of what interests international tourists more generally.
Top five list of international, travel-related Google searches about Sweden in 2023:
- Special Accommodation (-2%) -> ice hotels, tree hotels, igloo hotels.
- Destinations (+15%) -> cities, islands, regions.
- Camping (-3%) -> camping, caravans, cabins, glamping.
- Tourism Attractions (+14%) -> places to visit, things to do, tourism attractions.
- Natural Wonders (+7%) -> lakes, natural wonders, waterfalls, northern lights.
The 15 most searched categories internationally via Google in combination with Sweden and traveling to and visiting Sweden, during quarter one of 2024:
- Time
- Currency
- Flights
- Car
- Climate
- Flight Tickets
- Train
- Currency Exchange
- Ferry
- Cheap Flights
- Summer Temperature
- Weather Information
- Daylight
- Show
- Train Tickets
According to the press release.
