During the early summer, Sweden's central museums have once again opened their doors. Last out was the Vasa Museum at Djurgården in Stockholm, which opened on 15 July. Last year, the museum had over 1.5 million visitors, of which 85 percent were foreign tourists. The figure will be significantly lower this year.
- We hope for Stockholmers but also for tourists from the rest of Sweden. We now take in 500 visitors at a time, usually we take in 2,000. You get the chance to get close to the ship, without having to be crowded. It is a unique opportunity, says Jenny Lind, deputy museum director.
Low visitor numbers are worrying
The Nordic Museum is now seeing a clear increase in visitors compared with the spring, but compared with a normal summer, the number of visitors has halved. The Technical Museum's number of visitors earlier this spring was down to seven percent of normal, and therefore the museum is happy that it is now at 50 percent.
Skansen, which usually receives many visitors through the summer's events and concerts, also sees low numbers of visitors.
- It is high season and we have about 25 percent of the usual number of visitors. And what we pull in now we will live on during the low season, says Skansen manager John Brattmyhr.