Travel is up, investments in tourism down

Investments in tourism on the decrease in most Scandinavian countries. 

  • The only Scandinavian country in which investing in tourism has actually increased in the past years is Norway. According to a survey, the investment in Swedish tourism has decreased with 21% since 2011. Above: Norway’s ”Trolltunga” or The Troll’s Tongue, a piece of rock that shoots out horizontally from the mountain above Ringedalsvatnet.
  • Traveling is increasing, but investing in Scandinavian tourism is not. According to a new study, Norway is the only country in the region that defies the trend, as stated by a recent article in Dagens Industri.
    The investments in Swedish tourism has decreased with 21% since 2011, according to a survey from Rese-och turistnäringen (the Swedish Travel and Tourism Industry Federation), which Dagens Industri took a look at. In Finland, the investment in tourism has decreased with 15% and in Denmark with as much as 47%. In Norway, though, investments have increased with four percent.

  • Stavanger Old Town, Norway. Photography: Bo Zaunders
  • ”Other countries see an enormous growth potential in tourism from several perspectives. In addition to generating jobs, tourism is a source of revenue that attracts tourists as well as residents with the right skills,” says Jan Lundin, CEO at Rese- och turistnäringen to Dagens Industri. The recent survey has previously only been done on a national level, but the industry now hopes that collaborating will make the tourism industry more competitive. ”It is first and foremost intended as a signal for official authorities to try to get the Nordic countries to cooperate more,” Jan Lundin tells Dagens Industri.