Sweden Tourism in the economy In 2014 Sweden s GDP was SEK 3 907 billion. Tourism s share of GDP is 2.8%, and has been growing steadily for the last ten years and is an important contributor to the economy and the labour market in Sweden. Tourism generates significant revenues. In 2014 the total tourism turnover amounted to SEK 268.5 billion, an increase of 79% at nominal prices since 2000. The value of domestic tourism in 2014 amounted to SEK 172 billion. Of this figure, SEK 125 billion was generated from the leisure segment and SEK 47 billion from the business segment. Tourism s contribution to employment is also growing in importance. In 2014, the average number of employees in tourism was 159 000, an increase of 22% since 2000, compared to 10% growth in total employment over the same period. While employment in many traditional basic industries in Sweden has fallen, tourism has helped to create more jobs in a variety of service industries. Tourism s total export value amounted to SEK 96.5 billion in 2014, an increase of 7.1% from 2013, with travel receipts accounting for SEK 87.1 billion of this figure, up 15.8%. While the value of Sweden s total exports have increased by 66% since 2000, tourism s export value during the corresponding period increased by 138%. This rapid growth in tourism s export value means that tourism s share of total exports increased during the period from 3.9% in 2000 to 5.5% in 2014. The total number of international commercial guest nights in 2014 was 13.7 million, an increase of 6.7% from the previous year, and an increase of 14.9% from 2008. The main markets by arrivals are Denmark and Norway, however, the main markets by visitor nights are Norway and Germany, with 3.3 million and 2.8 million commercial guest nights respectively, followed by Denmark with 1.1 million. The largest increase in nominal numbers occurred from the German and British markets. The largest percentage increase was from India and Spain. Russia and Denmark have declined. Tourism governance and funding The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, Tillväxtverket, and VisitSweden AB are responsible for developing tourism at the national level and marketing Sweden as a tourist destination internationally. These organisations report to the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. Tillväxtverket develops, implements and supports knowledge initiatives and activities to promote tourism industry development and entrepreneurship. It is responsible for official tourism statistics and the production and dissemination of knowledge about the development of tourism and its effects on the Swedish economy as well as co-ordinating 277
with other governmental agencies with responsibilities related to tourism. Tillväxtverket is based in Stockholm but has a regional structure handling issues related to structural funds. VisitSweden AB is a company jointly owned by the Government and the Swedish tourism industry, represented by Svensk Turism AB. It promotes Sweden as a tourist destination abroad and has offices in several countries. VisitSweden prioritises marketing activities in twelve international markets: Norway, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the United States, France, Spain, Italy and China. The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) is an umbrella organisation for local and regional authorities. In recent years, SALAR has increased its engagement in tourism through partnerships with the industry organisations. Formal links between the different administrative levels are limited, but there is a growing awareness among stakeholders at all levels private, public and non-profit organisations that both horizontal and vertical co-ordination is crucial for further development. Sweden: Organisational chart of the tourism bodies Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation Svensk Turism AB (tourism industry owned) Policy development VisitSweden AB (50/50 private public ownership) Promotion of Sweden Tillväxtverket (Swedish Agency for Economics and Regional Growth) Tourism programmes and statistics Source: OECD, adapted from the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, 2016. The budget for tourism statistics and development is integrated in the budget for Tillväxtverket which totals around SEK 25 million, excluding the Sustainable Destination Development Programme 2012-15 which has had an annual governmental budget of SEK 20 million for the last three years. The budget for VisitSweden is about SEK 110 million. This sum is matched by industry for marketing campaigns. Resources for tourism projects are also allocated through regional and European Union funds. There are no specific tourism taxes but in recent years there have been some changes in taxation relevant to tourism. VAT on restaurants and catering services was lowered from 25% to 12% in 2012 to help stimulate employment. Initial reports show that the reform has contributed to: an increase in employment with 4 000 full-time jobs, 2 335 new companies, consumer price decreases of around 4% and decreased administrative burden. There have also been changes to payroll tax for young people. In 2009, the industry and labour organisations created the Research and Development Fund of the Swedish Tourism and Hospitality Industry to support research and innovation projects in the sector. Tourism policies and programmes The major challenges for Swedish tourism are connectivity and transport, profitability, destination and product development, seasonality, and sustainability. Transport is crucial and at the same time challenging because of Sweden s large size and geographical location in northern Europe, combined with a rather small population. 278
The same variables make destination development and profitability particularly challenging in rural areas. When it comes to seasonality work is ongoing in practically all Swedish regions to extend the tourism season. A positive for Sweden is that a rapidly growing number of international visitors tend to naturally extend the short summer season, due in large part to later vacations and other holiday dates in other countries. In the absence of a government-initiated national strategy for tourism, the industry through Svensk Turism launched a Strategy for Swedish Tourism in 2010 to promote destination development, marketing and industry co-ordination. The vision is to double overall tourism revenue to SEK 500 billion by 2020. Increased product and destination development is identified as a crucial component to reach this target. To support this, the Government asked Tillväxtverket to conduct the Sustainable Destination Development Programme 2012-15 to develop sustainable destinations, increase SME competitiveness, and improve knowledge in how to develop attractive and functional destinations. The programme focuses on five pilot destinations with international potential. The conclusions and models of destination development will be further developed and communicated to the stakeholders in the industry. For example, a permanent tourism development and marketing partnership was established in the Stockholm Archipelago region and Vimmerby. On the west coast, 11 municipalities in Bohuslän have signed a co-operation agreement and established a quality assured tourism product development process that can be adopted by other destinations. The Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis is evaluating the programme, and a report from The Centre for Municipality Studies was launched by Tillväxtverket in 2015. The five destination projects are evaluated and described in the EFQM Excellence Model. The work will be completed in early 2016 and aims to draw comparable conclusions and construct working models in order to help other destinations to implement structured destination development. Pilot destination approaches to sustainability will be separately evaluated with the overall goal to draw conclusions on which sustainability models and efforts seem to work best. One particular model that has been tested in the programme is Swedish Welcome. As part of the Programme, Tillväxtverket has also worked with the Government Agency Co-ordination Group. Some 12-13 government agencies related to tourism participate and co-operate with each other and with representatives for the five destinations. Connectivity and transport, regulations connected to natural resources, and issues related to land owning are some of the areas that have been covered in the group. A further creative example of enhancing co-operation is given in the box. A tour for Swedish tourism stakeholders to promote co-operation During 2014 Svensk Turism evaluated the national strategy and the work done so far in the tourism industry. One conclusion was the importance and need of stronger co-operation between private and public stakeholders at all levels. As a result, a tour around Sweden has been initiated where national, regional and local authorities, industry organisations and tourism companies can meet, raise awareness of the potential of the tourism industry and discuss challenges and possibilities for further development of the industry. 279
Connect Sweden is an initiative formed in collaboration between the state owned airport group Swedavia, Visit Sweden, Stockholm Business Region Development and other regional authorities. The project was formed in 2013 with the purpose of strengthening Sweden s and Stockholm Arlanda Airport s role as an international air hub and aims to establish at least five new non-stop international air routes within a three year period. In the budget proposition for 2016 the Swedish government proposes a system for fast tracks to Swedish labour market for recently arrived immigrants, after discussions between the government, employer organisations and unions. The first fast track agreed on in late September 2015 is for chefs, where there is a current shortage, and means that newly arrived immigrants may validate their professional chef/cooking skills in their own language where the validation is made by certified professional skills assessors. 280
Statistical profile Table 1. Sweden: Domestic, inbound and outbound tourism 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 TOURISM FLOWS, THOUSAND Domestic tourism Total domestic trips.......... Overnight visitors (tourists).......... Same-day visitors (excursionists).......... Nights in all types of accommodation 39 603 39 743 39 916 40 846 42 654 Hotels and similar establishments 25 795 26 129 26 587 27 044 28 374 Specialised establishments.......... Other collective establishments 13 808 13 614 13 329 13 801 14 280 Private accommodation.......... Inbound tourism Total international arrivals.. 19 405 p 20 011 p 18 803 p 19 945 p Overnight visitors (tourists).. 11 567 p 12 372 p 11 139 p 10 750 p Same-day visitors (excursionists).. 7 838 p 7 639 p 7 664 p 9 195 p Top markets Denmark.. 2 237 p 2 586 p 2 225 p 1 967 p Norway.. 1 956 p 1 791 p 1 785 p 1 754 p Finland.. 1 792 p 1 769 p 1 523 p 1 550 p Germany.. 1 369 p 1 578 p 1 303 p 1 285 p United Kingdom.. 527 p 636 p 548 p 603 p Nights in all types of accommodation 12 803 12 881 12 775 12 890 13 748 Hotels and similar establishments.......... Specialised establishments.......... Other collective establishments.......... Private accommodation.......... Outbound tourism Total international departures.......... Overnight visitors (tourists) 13 042 14 651 15 548 15 900.. Same-day visitors (excursionists).......... Top destinations TOURISM RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE, MILLION SEK Inbound tourism Total international receipts 77 237 83 928 86 628 90 055.. International travel receipts 62 440 68 600 71 900 75 200 87 100 International passenger transport receipts 14 797 15 328 14 728 14 855.. Outbound tourism Total international expenditure 107 696 112 889 120 922.... International travel expenditure 94 102 100 100 105 800 114 700 127 000 International passenger transport expenditure 13 594 12 789 15 122...... Not available; p Provisional data Disclaimer: http://oe.cd/disclaimer Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database). 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933320557 281
.. Not available; p Provisional data Disclaimer: http://oe.cd/disclaimer 1. Data refer to number of enterprises. Table 2. Sweden: Enterprises and employment in tourism Number of establishments 1 Number of persons employed 2014 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total.. 142 000 145 700 p 155 300 p 151 800 p 159 200 p Tourism industries.. 137 200 140 400 p 149 100 p 148 600 p 155 800 p Accommodation services for visitors.. 60 200 61 800 p 68 300 p 69 700 p 75 800 p Hotels and similar establishments 2 033.......... Food and beverage serving industry Passenger transport.. 20 400 21 700 p 22 000 p 21 200 p 20 000 p Air passenger transport Railways passenger transport Road passenger transport Water passenger transport Passenger transport supporting services Transport equipment rental Travel agencies and other reservation services industry.. 11 900 12 100 p 12 300 p 12 300 p 11 800 p Cultural industry.. 15 100 14 300 p 16 400 p 15 500 p 16 600 p Sports and recreation industry Retail trade of country-specific tourism characteristic goods.. 29 600 30 500 p 30 100 p 29 900 p 31 600 p Other country-specific tourism industries Other industries.. 4 800 5 300 p 6 200 p 3 200 p 3 400 p Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database). 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933320561.. Not available; p Provisional data Disclaimer: http://oe.cd/disclaimer Table 3. Sweden: Internal tourism consumption Million SEK 2013 Domestic tourism consumption Inbound tourism consumption Internal tourism consumption Total...... Consumption products 169 610 p 85 789 p 255 399 p Tourism characteristic products 114 361 p 38 912 p 153 364 p Accommodation services for visitors 44 022 p 6 342 p 50 364 p Food and beverage serving services 17 869 p 12 572 p 30 442 p Passenger transport services...... Air passenger transport services...... Railways passenger transport services...... Road passenger transport services...... Water passenger transport services...... Passenger transport supporting services 28 825 p 14 735 p 43 650 p Transport equipment rental services...... Travel agencies and other reservation services industry 14 863 p 0p 14 863 p Cultural services 8 782 p 5 263 p 14 045 p Sports and recreation services...... Country-specific tourism characteristic goods...... Country-specific tourism characteristic services...... Other consumption products 55 249 p 46 877 p 102 035 p Tourism connected products...... Non-tourism related consumption products...... Non-consumption products...... Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database). 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933320574 282
From: OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2016 Access the complete publication at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/tour-2016-en Please cite this chapter as: OECD (2016), Sweden, in OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/tour-2016-37-en This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgment of OECD as source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to rights@oecd.org. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at info@copyright.com or the Centre français d exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) at contact@cfcopies.com.