Finland is keeping the border closed to Swedes for virus reasons. Bad news for tourism-dependent \u00c5land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The landscape now awaits clear guidance on what applies to Swedish leisure boats this summer. Perhaps some of the season can still be salvaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The significance of Swedish tourism for \u00c5land can hardly be overstated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dWhen we count how many Swedes have a close connection to \u00c5land, with friends, holiday homes and so on, that amounts to approximately 30,000, the population of \u00c5land,\u201d says Lotta Berner Sj\u00f6lund, CEO of the official tourism organisation Visit \u00c5land, to TT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dSweden and Finland account for 86 per cent of overnight stays, with roughly half each.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The figure applies to a normal year. 2020 is not one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the beginning of the year, some business travellers arrived. Then the coronavirus turned everything upside down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dYes, it never got a chance to start,\u201d notes Lotta Berner Sj\u00f6lund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tourist visits in the spring have not been numerous. The pandemic has hit ferry companies Ecker\u00f6linjen and Viking Line hard. Traffic has been restricted or completely cancelled. Large parts of the staff have been furloughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, the Finnish government decided to lift the virus-related border controls for travel to and from the Nordic and Baltic countries. With Sweden being an exception. Reason: The infection situation here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This allows Swedes who own property in Finland to enter. A Swedish-Finnish relationship also provides this possibility, according to Yle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a typical summer, an armada of Swedish leisure boats heads for the \u00c5land archipelago. Lotta Berner Sj\u00f6lund has tried to get clarification from the provincial government on whether leisure boats are also being stopped by travel restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dWe are awaiting clarification on exactly what applies,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In two weeks, the government will again make a statement on travel regulations. This means that June is effectively a write-off for the tourism industry in the summer destination of \u00c5land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visit \u00c5land is pinning its hopes on freer travel during the equally important tourist months of July and August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dFor us as a destination, it is tricky. We are located in the middle of the Baltic Sea and are completely dependent on the ferries, so it affects the destination in very many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the difficult situation, Lotta Berner Sj\u00f6lund believes that there will not be many direct bankruptcies within the \u00c5land tourism industry:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dHowever, we believe that several will cease their operations earlier than they had intended, for example, cabin rental businesses run by people who have reached retirement age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: TT<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finland beh\u00e5ller gr\u00e4nsbommen nere f\u00f6r svenskar av virussk\u00e4l. En usel nyhet f\u00f6r turistberoende \u00c5land. Nu v\u00e4ntar landskapet p\u00e5 tydligt besked vad som g\u00e4ller f\u00f6r svenska fritidsb\u00e5tar i sommar. Kanske kan \u00e4nd\u00e5 n\u00e5got av s\u00e4songen r\u00e4ddas. Den svenska turismens betydelse f\u00f6r \u00c5land g\u00e5r knappast att \u00f6verskatta. \u201dN\u00e4r vi r\u00e4knar\u00a0hur m\u00e5nga svenskar som har en n\u00e4ra koppling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[992,3165,384,155],"class_list":["post-236236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel-report","tag-aland-2","tag-eckerolinjen","tag-finland","tag-turism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n