ANNUAL TOURISM REPORT 2013 Sweden

Transcription

1 ANNUAL TOURISM REPORT 2013 Sweden Article 3 of Council Decision 86/664/EEC 1 of 22 December 1986 establishing a consultation and cooperation procedure in the field of tourism stipulates that: "...each Member State shall send the Commission, once a year, a report on the most significant measures it has taken and, as far as possible, on measures it is considering taking in the provision of services for tourists which could have consequences for travellers from the other Member States. The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof". The following reporting form aims at facilitating compliance with this Council Decision &pgs=10&hwords= 1

2 SECTION 1 TOURISM ORGANISATION AND GOVERNANCE This section is aimed at reporting on the following: Administrative organisation Territorial organisation Organisation and links between the national tourism authority and the provinces / regions Organisation and links between the national tourism authority and industry associations, stakeholders and customers 1.1. Short description of the administrative and territorial organisation of public bodies responsible for tourism The current organisational structure of Sweden s tourism at national level was determined by an act of parliament in Two organisations, the government agency Tillvätverket (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth) and the partly stated owned company VisitSweden AB, are responsible for tourism at the national level. Tillvätverket focuses on tourism industry issues, and develops activities to promote tourism initiatives and entrepreneurship. The agency is also responsible for official tourism statistics and the production and dissemination of knowledge about the development of tourism and its effects on the Swedish economy. VisitSweden (formerly the Swedish Travel & Tourism Council) is a company owned jointly by the government and the Swedish tourism industry, and is responsible for marketing Sweden as a tourism destination abroad. In addition, there are tourism bodies at both regional and local levels. These are managed by the regions and local communities, respectively. There are no formal links between the different administrative levels. 2

3 1.2. Organisation chart reflecting the above described administrative and territorial organisation Relationship and main areas of cooperation between national/regional public tourism bodies and the most significant / active private organisations / stakeholders / industry associations /unions / consumer organisations Visita - industry and employers organization for the hospitality industry. Svensk Turism AB industry organization. Co-owner of VisitSweden AB together with the Swedish state. Svensk Turism AB is owned by appro. 170 tourism companies and organizations, and in 2010 launched a strategy for the Swedish hospitality industry/tourism. BFUF - Industry and the labour organizations set up a fund in 2009 to support projects in research and innovation Eisting national/regional specific legislation on tourism No specific legislation on tourism. SECTION 2 - MEMBER STATE ECONOMIC DATA AND TOURISM BUDGETS This section is intended to provide an overview of the key statistical information about the general tourism economic environment of the Member States. Please see anne Statistics 3

4 SECTION 3 NATIONAL TOURISM POLICY AND STRATEGIES This section aims at collecting information on the Member States general strategic vision as well as the specific objectives of their tourism policies Key mission, main medium and long-term objectives and the main targets of your national tourism policy. The aim of the Swedish government s tourism policy is that Sweden should be a highly attractive tourist destination with competitive long-term tourism, contributing to sustainable growth and increased employment throughout the country Multi-annual national tourism strategy specific / relevant for tourism There is no government initiated strategy. Svensk Turism AB launched a strategy for the Swedish hospitality industry/tourism in TOURISM CHALLENGES, MEASURES AND INITIATIVES This section aims at collecting information on the challenges the Member states and the tourism industry has to deal with as well as the measures put in place to tackle them Key challenges for the tourism sector CHALLENGES Diversification of the tourism offer Protection of the cultural heritage Protection of the natural heritage ICT and innovation Connectivity and transport Employment in tourism Improving education and skills in tourism Combatting seasonality Demographic changes Improving accessibility of tourism Improving socio-economic data in tourism Economic crisis and recovery Improving the sustainability of tourism offer Combatting climate change Improving the quality of tourism offer IMPORTANCE / PRIORITY HIGH MEDIUM LOW 4

5 Developing responsible tourism practices Competition against other destinations Administrative / regulatory burden, bureaucracy Other, please specify 4.2. Main measures aimed at tackling the key high-priority challenges indicated above To increase the competiveness of Swedish destinations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in tourism, the government allocated 60 million SEK in 2012 to a programme for sustainable destination development. Tillvätverket is responsible for the programme and, in close co-operation with VisitSweden, has selected five pilot destinations that are perceived to have strong potential to attract international tourism. The programme includes activities related to increasing competitiveness among SMEs within destinations, i.e. business development activities, quality assessment, sustainable development, etc. An important objective is to disseminate the knowledge and tools that are developed within the programme to the whole tourism sector. Based on an regional initiative from region, Tillvätverket has contributed to the development of a national quality and sustainability assessment system for entrepreneurs and activities within the tourism sector. The system, which now is established at national level, is called Swedish Welcome and will be operational sometime during Legislative measures if any -at EU level related to the above mentioned challenges 4.4. Measures implemented to increase tourism flows from other EU Member States and from third countries. VisitSweden AB is headquartered in Stockholm with twelve offices in prioritized international markets; Norway, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, US, France, Spain, Italy and China. VisitSweden conducts promotional measures primarily on these prioritized international markets How promotional measures implemented make use of / capitalise on the promotional campaigns carried out by the Commission (i.e. Ready for Europe, EDEN, low-season tourism campaigns, etc.) 4.6. Measures /actions which contribute to maimising the potential of national policies for developing tourism (e.g. ensuring that tourism interests are taken into account in the development of other policies which may have impact on tourism) 5

6 4.7. Measures/actions which contribute to maimising the potential of EU Financial Instruments for developing tourism (e.g. information on main objectives, financing opportunities, training courses, etc.). 4.8 EU programmes most frequently and for what purposes of tourism development Tourism is an important priority within the Swedish regional growth policy. So far approimately 820 million SEK been granted to tourism projects through the Swedish ERDFprograms. Adding the national funding, the total public funding is about 1.7 billion SEK for tourism. Interventions are often focused on developing the attractiveness in nature and landscape and make use of Sweden s natural assets. Sustainable and responsible tourism, whether talking about economic, social or environmental sustainability, is a broad concept and may be interpreted in various ways depending on the attributes of a Member State or region. The following questions focus on sustainability and responsibility in tourism as described in the 2007 Commission Communication 2 on an agenda for sustainable and competitive European tourism Sustainable destination: What support is given to strengthen destination management at the national /regional/local level (e.g. supportive policy environment, knowledge networks, training programmes, technological support tools, financial support, promotional activities, etc.)? To increase the competiveness of Swedish destinations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in tourism, the government allocated 60 million SEK in 2012 to a programme for sustainable destination development. Tillvätverket is responsible for the programme and, in close co-operation with VisitSweden, has selected five pilot destinations that are perceived to have strong potential to attract international tourism. The programme includes activities related to increasing competitiveness among SMEs within destinations, i.e. business development activities, quality assessment, sustainable development, etc. An important objective is to disseminate the knowledge and tools that are developed within the programme to the whole tourism sector. Based on an regional initiative from region, Tillvätverket has contributed to the development of a national quality and sustainability assessment system for entrepreneurs and activities within the tourism sector. The system, which now is established at national level, is called Swedish Welcome and will be operational sometime during Sustainable businesses: What support is given to strengthen the sustainability and competitiveness of tourism businesses (e.g. supportive policy environment, /inde_en.htm 6

7 See above knowledge networks, orientation of business support services to sustainability, training, financial incentives, promotional activities, etc.)? Responsible tourism: What support is given to tourists and the tourism industry to promote their responsible practices and choices (e.g. awareness raising, sustainability in education, national marketing and media campaigns, promotion of certification schemes, etc.)? See above Most significant planned / future tourism measures (legislative or non-legislative) which envisage to impact travellers visiting the country from other Member States or from outside Europe. To increase the competiveness of Swedish destinations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in tourism, the government allocated 60 million SEK in 2012 to a programme for sustainable destination development. Tillvätverket is responsible for the programme and, in close co-operation with VisitSweden, has selected five pilot destinations that are perceived to have strong potential to attract international tourism. The programme includes activities related to increasing competitiveness among SMEs within destinations, i.e. business development activities, quality assessment, sustainable development, etc. An important objective is to disseminate the knowledge and tools that are developed within the programme to the whole tourism sector. 5. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 5.1. Three best practices of tourism measures implemented at national, regional or local level 5.2. What policy developments / actions / activities would you epect from the Commission's tourism team that would serve better (than the current ones) the EU Member States and the industry 7