The tourism industry in the Swedish Lapland destination continues to grow and in 2018 had a record turnover of 7.1 billion. This is an increase of 6 % from the previous year according to TEM®, the tourism economic model. The turnover is increasing faster than the number of guest nights, which means that visitors are spending more and more on site. An important sustainable development for the industry.
Over the past 10 years, the tourism industry has doubled in the destination of Swedish Lapland, resulting in newly established businesses, increased employment and more tax revenue. Today, the tourism industry is considered one of the region's fastest growing basic industries.
– It is innovative and constantly forward-looking entrepreneurs, often small business owners, who create new reasons to travel and are the very foundation for the industry to grow. Then we have a smart system in how we work together with the development of the place, the companies' business development and joint marketing of the market to increase the companies' sales contacts and the market's awareness of our destination, says Erika Mattsson, CEO of the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board.
In 2018, a visitor spent an average of 1800 SEK per day on various purchases at the destination, which is an increase of 39 % over the last three years. During the same period, the number of guest nights has increased by 10 %. To get an idea of what visitors spend their money on, we usually talk about the so-called Turistkronan. It includes the turnover of accommodation, restaurant visits, fuel costs, trade in the form of shopping and purchasing food, and activities.
– The destination's visitors are leaving behind more and more money per visit, which is pleasing to us. By actively and strategically investing in increasing revenue per guest, we are building sustainable values that will continue to exist tomorrow. This is also why we have set a goal of doubling turnover, and not guest volume, by 2020, says Maria Sirviö, external strategist at the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board.
In addition to the fact that the income from the tourism industry stays in the town, the tourism industry enables a vibrant countryside and a higher level of service for the local population. The tourism industry leads to a more diverse business community, more jobs and better service to the residents. Developments in the tourism industry offer residents of smaller towns a chance to stay in their hometown and often work in an international environment.
Facts:
TEM® is a model to facilitate economic impact calculations of tourism. More than 230 of Sweden's municipalities have used TEM to calculate the economic and employment effects of tourism. TEM measures the effects of tourists' consumption. This means that tourists are divided into 14 different categories and for each of these, facts are produced about how many overnight stays or visits have been made. TEM® also examines how much visitors spend per day/24 hours and on what they spend money, divided into 6 expenditure items: accommodation, food, restaurants, transport, shopping and activities. The method means that it follows the guidelines and directives developed by the WTO (World Tourism Organization) and established by the UN in 1993. Source: http://www.turism.se/tem
