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Nine of ten tourists ‘happy’ with Sweden

Nearly 17 million foreign tourists visited Sweden in 2011, and almost all of them enjoyed their stay, according to a new report.

Published: 23 May 2012 15:56 CEST

Nine of ten tourists 'happy' with Sweden

Ninety percent of the 16.7 million foreign tourists who came to Sweden last year were happy with their stay, according to a study presented on Wednesday by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket).

“By looking at what they do, how much money they spend, what kind of accommodation they choose, where they have been and so on, you can refine the product and market it right,” said the agency’s Therese Lindberg to Sveriges Radio (SR).

The study consists of over 20,000 interviews at Swedish border stations, conducted when visitors were leaving the country.

The study showed that the majority of visitors to Sweden come from neighbouring nations Norway, Denmark and Finland, which made up 61 percent of the total number of visitors.

Ten percent of visitors came from Germany and 80 percent of all those that came were returning visitors.

Out of the 14 million non-business related visits to Sweden, 40 percent stated that the purpose of their visit was for leisure purposes and 18 percent stated that it was the shopping that drew them to the country.

The study also showed that Norwegians are prone to visit western Sweden, Danes prefer the south and Finns like to frequent Northern Sweden and the Stockholm area.

The majority of the visitors, some 90 percent of all the study’s participants, were pleased with their stay. Least pleased were the Germans, of which 9 percent stated that they were not happy with their stay.

The study, however, did not account for why this was the case.

“We can look at what they did, where they stayed, what activities they took part in and so on. But we cannot draw any real conclusions from this general question about being pleased with their stay,” said Lindberg to SR.

Sweden’s major metropolitan areas proved the most popular destinations for foreign tourists, with Stockholm accounting for 35 percent of visits, while the area including Malmö and Sweden’s southern coast attracted 32 percent and the Gothenburg-centered region of western Sweden accounted for 25 percent of visits by foreign tourists.

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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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