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Sweden tourism heads for new record year

The number of foreign tourists visiting Sweden climbed 3 percent during the first four months of 2011, new statistics from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket) show, prompting hopes of a new record year.

Published: 9 June 2011 08:08 CEST

Sweden tourism heads for new record year

“We have had seven years in a row of all time highs. If this development continues we’ll have an eighth record year,” said Thomas Brühl at Visit Sweden – the Swedish tourist board.

Overnight stays by foreign tourists in hotels, chalets and hostels in Sweden increased by 3 percent during the first four months of 2011, in comparison to the corresponding period of 2010, the figures from the agency and Statistics Sweden (SCB) show.

Overnight stays climbed 17 percent in April.

According to Visit Sweden, which works to promote Sweden overseas, the large rise in April can be explained by investments in marketing Sweden abroad, with for example major advertising campaigns in key tourist countries.

A further explanation is that the ash cloud from the Eyafjallajökul volcano impacted air traffic last year, hitting tourism figures for the month.

The Chinese and Americans are two groups which have shown a greater interest in visiting Sweden, with tourist numbers up 30 and 13 percent respectively.

“The markets which fell the most when the crisis hit, and among those are included the USA and China, are those which have now recovered the most,” said Thomas Brühl.

One of Sweden’s most popular offbeat destinations – the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi – announced on Thursday that it plans to open its doors for the summer season for the first time.

The Ice Hotel plans to offer three suites made purely of ice contained in a warehouse, complete with columns, chandeliers and polar bear carvings.

Many of the hotel’s visitors have expressed a wish for the hotel to remain open in the summer.

“We often have guests who are here for the summer and who look for the Ice Hotel and are left disappointed when they don’t find anything,” said press spokesperson Camilla Bondareva.

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Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Spain welcomed 12.2 million UK tourists between January and July 2023, 6 percent less when compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released on Monday by Spanish tourism association Turespaña.

This represents a decrease of 793,260 British holidaymakers for Spain so far this year.

Conversely, the number of Italian (+8 percent), Irish (+15.3 percent), Portuguese (+24.8 percent), Dutch (+4 percent) and French tourists (+5 percent) visiting España in 2023 are all above the rates in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.

German holidaymakers are together with their British counterparts the two main nationalities showing less interest in coming to Spanish shores.

Britons still represent the biggest tourist group that comes to Spain, but it’s undergoing a slump, with another recent study by Caixabank Research suggesting numbers fell particularly in June 2023 (-12.5 percent of the usual rate).

READ ALSO: Spain fully booked for summer despite most expensive holiday prices ever

So are some Britons falling out of love with Spain? Are there clear reasons why a holiday on the Spanish coast is on fewer British holiday itineraries?

According to Caixabank Research’s report, the main reasons are “the poor macroeconomic performance of the United Kingdom, the sharp rise in rates and the weakness of the pound”.

This is evidenced in the results of a survey by British market research company Savanta, which found that one in six Britons are not going on a summer holiday this year due to the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

Practically everything, everywhere has become more expensive, and that includes holidays in Spain: hotel stays are up 44 percent, eating out is 13 percent pricier, and flights are 40 percent more on average.

READ ALSO: How much more expensive is it to holiday in Spain this summer?

Caixabank stressed that another reason for the drop in British holidaymakers heading to Spain is that those who can afford a holiday abroad are choosing “more competitive markets” such as Turkey, Greece and Portugal.

And there’s no doubt that the insufferably hot summer that Spain is having, with four heatwaves so far, has also dissuaded many holidaymakers from Blighty from overcooking in the Spanish sun.

With headlines such as “This area of Spain could become too hot for tourists” or “tourists say it’s too hot to see any sights” featuring in the UK press, budding British holidaymakers are all too aware of the suffocating weather conditions Spain and other Mediterranean countries are enduring.

Other UK outlets have urged travellers to try out the cooler Spanish north rather than the usual piping hot Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol destinations.

Another UK poll by InsureandGo found that 71 percent of the 2,000+ British respondents thought that parts of Europe such as Spain, Greece and Turkey will be too hot to visit over summer by 2027.

There’s further concern that the introduction in 2024 of the new (and delayed) ETIAS visa for non-EU visitors, which of course now also applies to UK nationals, could further compel British tourists to choose countries to holiday in rather than Spain.

READ MORE: Will British tourists need to pay for a visa waiver to enter Spain?

However, a drop in the number of British holidaymakers may not be all that bad for Spain, even though they did spend over €17 billion on their Spanish vacations in 2022.

Towns, cities and islands across the country have been grappling with the problem of overtourism and the consequences it has on everything from quality of life for locals to rent prices.

READ ALSO: ‘Beach closed’ – Fake signs put up in Spain’s Mallorca to dissuade tourists

The overcrowded nature of Spain’s beaches and most beautiful holiday hotspots appears to be one of the reasons why Germans are visiting Spain in far fewer numbers. A recent report in the country’s most read magazine Stern asked “if the dream is over” in their beloved Mallorca.

Spanish authorities are also seeking to overhaul the cheaper holiday package-driven model that dominates many resorts, which includes moving away from the boozy antics of young British and other European revellers.

Fewer tourists who spend more are what Spain is theoretically now looking for, and the rise in American, Japanese and European tourists other than Brits signify less of a dependence on the British market, one which tends to maintain the country’s tourism status quo for better or for worse.

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