Source: Oxford Economics
In a brand new analysis that Sweden's marketing company, Visit Sweden, has received from Oxford Economics, the outlook for Swedish tourism looks better than just a couple of months ago. And better than for other countries in Europe.
The reason for the now more positive forecast for Sweden is partly that Sweden has a relatively large domestic tourism that continues to exist, even when fewer foreign visitors come here.
This is partly because Swedes are normally frequent travelers abroad – something they will not be to the same extent this year. Many will therefore be tourists at home.
Even if vaccination is underway, most people will continue to wait to book a trip abroad due to concerns that already complicated travel rules will be changed, the risk of large costs for testing and quarantine, as well as uncertainty about the spread of infection and continued uncertainty about their own finances.
Overall, there is therefore potential, according to the forecast, that domestic Swedish tourism in 2021 can temporarily offset the loss of foreign visitors.
According to Visit Sweden's own temperature measurement of Swedes' travel, which was conducted in May this year, the most popular travel destination for Swedes this year was: Sweden.
Almost 40 percent (37%) of respondents are planning a vacation in Sweden in the near future, while 29% are not planning any vacation with overnight stays at all in the next 6 months.
– We are hearing from more and more sources that inquiries and bookings are starting to increase for everything from accommodation to bus charters, says Susanne Andersson, CEO of Visit Sweden.
– But even though the new forecast looks promising, the industry is also well aware that tougher restrictions can quickly be reintroduced and that Swedes will soon start traveling abroad again, which is why we see a low-key, hesitant, yet hopeful joy out there, Susanne continues.
– One thing that is certain is that unique opportunities are now being created for the future of Swedish tourism. Swedish travel destinations and attractions now have a unique opportunity to show themselves to Swedes who may be used to Thai design hotels, Spanish hotels, heated pools and all-inclusives, concludes Susanne Andersson.
Sweden is ranked fifth among European countries with the greatest chance of recovering total tourism volume through domestic tourism according to Oxford Economics Tourism Economics
For the vast majority of countries in Europe, the net number of tourists looks set to be negative. In other words: tourism in 2021 is expected to be less than in 2019. But five countries stand out in the forecast: Sweden, Finland, Germany, Poland and Romania.
For these countries, the forecast is that the lost international guest nights for the full year of 2021 could be offset by increased domestic tourism, and could even reach above the 2019 level.
