After the crisis year - Swedish tourism industry hopes for the summer

- It will take time.

I do not think we will see a complete recovery in the near future, but at least until 2023, says the trade association Visita's CEO Jonas Siljhammar in the latest section of the Finance Agency. 

The tourism industry in Sweden is one of the industries hardest hit by the pandemic.

The prevailing infection situation means that many do not dare to book a summer trip.

The wait is visible in the number of bookings, which for the summer is 57 percent lower compared to the summer last year.

This is stated by Visita for Ekonomibyrån. 

- We see that the restrictions, but also that people are worried, make you choose to wait, says Siljhammar.

Foreign tourism disappeared

Although many Swedes vacationed at home, it was not enough to compensate for foreign tourism, which almost completely disappeared when the borders were closed this spring. 

- You have to remember that there are average figures in this.

Very many Swedes chose to holiday in Sweden, but these are private trips.

What has dropped the most are conferences, business travel and a lot to the big cities, says Lottie Knutson, travel expert at Ekonomibyrån.  

Visita's CEO believes that the blow to the tourism industry could have been avoided: 

- You would have had a much better dialogue with us in the industry ... then the effect of this would have been much milder.

There are examples where you could have done differently and done more to save jobs and companies and still keep the spread of infection down, says Jonas Siljhammar.

The hotel industry is hard hit

Swedish tourism accounts for about 3 percent of Sweden's total economy and employs tens of thousands.

Bankruptcies in the hotel industry have almost doubled during the pandemic, which is more than for other industries during the same period.

At the same time, many have been laid off in an industry that employs many young people and those born abroad. 

- Now it depends on when the support can come out to these companies, that normally viable companies can survive so that they can re-employ all those who have lost their jobs, says Siljhammar.

See the entire latest episode of Ekonomibyrån SVEMESTER AGAIN here.