- It is a completely different life and movement now, last spring a car did not pass here, says David Viklund, hotel manager at Clarion Hotel Sign in Stockholm.
The hotels in Sweden are basically back to normal levels, as it looked before the pandemic.
When about eight out of ten hotel beds in Sweden were booked, then came covid-19 and then the number dropped to four.
It has now been almost a year and a half since the pandemic started and the hotel industry is starting to flourish again, with six out of ten beds booked in July.
- Now we can actually hire more people again because we had to lay off a lot last year, says Peder Wiklund, hotel owner in Storuman.
Many hemesters
The Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, which has produced the figures, believes that Swedes traveling within the country on "holiday" have contributed to the bright upturn.
And in several parts of the country, they have also made a record season this summer.
- Rovdjursparken was the first choice, then we saw Santa's land and that the cottage was vacant so now we stay and cycle, says Katarina Sten who visited Orsa Grönklitt in Dalarna.
Stockholm is lagging behind
Stockholm is having its best month in terms of occupancy in July since March last year.
But the hotels have not recovered quite as well as Sweden in general.
In terms of the number of rented hotel beds, only four out of ten are booked in July.
- Many of the tourists who visit hotels in Stockholm also go to events in the city, the events have not really started yet, which means that the hotel market has been affected by this, says Stefan Westerberg, chief economist at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.