Ruth Dolla Manager - India at Visit Sweden
Why is India an important market for Visit Sweden?
The sheer size of the fast-growing middle-class population that is interested in travelling is a big reason for India being an important market for Visit Sweden (www.visitsweden.com).
Also, almost 200 Swedish companies have a presence in India that includes large consumer brands like IKEA, H&M, Volvo, tech companies like Ericsson and manufacturing companies like Sandvik, DeLaval, etc.
This had led to a lot of business travel and in turn a ‘bleisure’ travel trend, where the business traveller stays back for a leisure trip for a few days.
These people are ambassadors for Sweden and go back and tell their friends about Sweden. Another reason is the growing IT talent. One out of every six people in the IT industry in Sweden is an Indian. This has also led to a massive growth in VFR (visiting friends and relatives) travel, who also are our ambassadors and it leads to an overall increase in leisure travel.
According to the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, the number of bednights by Indians in Sweden in 2016 was 175,088 nights and in 2017 it went up to 216,058 nights, a 23% increase from the previous year.
In addition, the number of bednights in Stockholm region grew by 15% in 2018 as compared to the previous year.
What are some of the things Indian travellers can expect to find in Sweden that make it a destination of interest to them?
Three things that an Indian traveller can experience Sweden that they won’t find elsewhere in Europe:
• Midsummer — one of the biggest festivals in Sweden (after Christmas) where you wear a traditional Swedish outfit, make a flower head wreath and dance around a decorated maypole. This festival marks the summer equinox and is very special for tourists as they get to experience true Swedish culture.
• Northern lights — on the bucket list of many! You can experience the Aurora Borealis in the north of Sweden.
• Urban nature — Stockholm is one of the few capital cities in the world where you can find nature right in the middle of the city, air quality is pure, and you can go swimming in any of the lakes in the city and go fishing right in front of the royal palace.
The lifestyle enables you to cycle or even kayak in to work. You don’t need to take a weekend off to get close to nature, its right outside your doorstep.
How geared is Sweden to deal with some of the dietary requirements and restrictions of Indians as that is an important consideration for a destination choice?
Indian food is truly available everywhere in the world today. I am from India and have been living in Sweden for almost five years now and it makes me happy to see how popular Indian cuisine is here. There are a lot of choices when it comes to Indian food for the Indian traveller.
Are there any special plans chalked out by Visit Sweden with regards to the upcoming European summer travel season?
We have several ongoing B2C and B2B marketing campaigns. We will be
soon promoting the flight route from India to Gothenburg via Doha on Qatar
Airways and we continue to promote the direct flight on Air India from Delhi to Stockholm.
