If Sweden’s country brand gets worse, it will be difficult to turn back, says Susanne Andersson, CEO of Visit Sweden.
In Stockholm, most of the violence in recent weeks has taken place kilometres away from the city centre and in areas frequented by tourists, but on 18 January there was an explosion outside a restaurant in the popular Södermalm district near the city centre. The explosion did not cause any injuries, but the restaurant building was damaged.
According to Andersson, the situation has not yet had an impact on the Swedish tourism industry.
– The problem is that if this situation continues for a long time, it will have an impact on Sweden’s country brand,” Andersson says, referring to the numerous recent acts of violence in Sweden.
Based on numerous country brand studies, it is characteristic of a country’s image that it changes very slowly. But.
– When it changes, it is difficult to reverse the direction either, Andersson states.
At least Sweden’s country brand is downright excellent. In the Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index survey in 2022, Sweden ranked 9th, with approximately the same points as the previous year.
Sweden is still safe
Andersson reminds that Sweden is mostly a safe country: there is only a few cities where there is gang violence, and even in those, most of it happens at night and in places where tourists don’t get lost.
– If you stay in areas popular with tourists, you will be safe, Andersson says.
Also according to the travel bulletin of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Sweden’s security is still at the level of \”observe usual caution\ which is the highest of the security levels in travel bulletins.
Andersson also reminds that, for example, Greece, Cyprus and France are less safe than Sweden in international comparisons, but are still popular travel destinations.
Even based on the statistics, tourists have not been afraid of Sweden, but the country’s tourism is recovering rapidly from the corona pandemic. Swedish tourism has recovered from the corona hole back to the figures it was in 2019, Andersson says.
However, Sweden has also experienced the effects of the war started by Russia in Ukraine, such as the acceleration of inflation and the weakening of the citizens’ purchasing power.