Tourism important for employment and growth

The tourist industry is very much a small-business industry, vital for employment in a number of regions. Central government and the industry itself have drawn up a joint strategy for boosting growth in the Swedish travel and tourist industry.

Policy objective

The overall objective of the state's tourism policy is that Sweden is to be a highly attractive tourist destination and tourism is to be competitive in the long term, contributing to sustainable growth and increased employment throughout the country.

According to the Bill's proposals, A policy for long-term competetive Swedish tourism Prop 2004/2005:56 (decided by the Parliament in June 2005) tourism policy is to be based on two perspectives - a perspective promoting business and a perspective promoting Sweden.

The perspective promoting business entails promoting the development of a competitive tourist industry that contribu-tes to sustainable growth and increased employment throughout the country. The perspective promoting Sweden covers coordinated and effective marketing and market development in Sweden and its regions as travel destinations/tourist attractions, particularly on the international market.

Policy scope

Tourism is defined as the activities of individuals when, for leisure, business or other purposes, they travel to and stay in places outside their normal environment for less than a year. The Swedish tourist industry is defined as all the businesses that supply goods and services to consumers of tourism.

Tourism is very much a small-business industry but a sector that is vital for employment in many regions. The tourist industry in Sweden has an annual turnover of approximately SEK 215 billion, which represents about 2.94 per cent of Sweden's GDP. The number of people employed in the Swedish tourist industry is equivalent to approximately 150 000 full-year positions.

Many policy areas affect the development of tourism, such as business development policy, regional development policy, transport and infrastructure policy, educational policy and cultural policy.

Policy focus

Government initiatives for the tourist industry are important, both to enhance growth throughout the country and to increase the number of employment opportunities.

In a group formed to discuss the future of tourism, the Government and the tourist industry have discussed tourism's potential, identified factors for growth and drawn up a joint strategy for greater growth in the Swedish travel and tourist industry.