Kay Wiestål died this weekend in the suites of covid-19, which Dagens Kalmar was the first to tell.
- Kay Wiestål was a true entrepreneur and founder of Victoria Day and of course the royal family is very sad, says Margaretha Thorgren, information manager at the Swedish court.
- This very commitment he has had to celebrate the Crown Princess on July 14 and developed it in an incredibly successful way has meant that Kay Wiestål as recently as February received a medal from the king, she says.
Nestor for tourism
For over 40 years, he was the man behind Victoria Day, this event that alone attracted tens of thousands of tourists to Öland.
But Kay Wiestål was also of great importance to tourism in general in the region.
It was he who founded Kalmar's city association in the early 1990s to get the city center to collaborate on tourism, and he worked throughout his career to connect Öland and Kalmar to one destination.
Collaboration and perseverance were the key words, says Kalmar's tourism manager Stefan Johnson:
- I do not think we really understand how much he did for this area.
His strong network, both nationally and internationally, has really put our place on the map.
Kay Wiestål turned 80 years old.