Sweden – an attractive and sustainable destination built on innovation
On October 18, 2021, the Swedish government presented a vision and strategy for developing long-term sustainable tourism and a competitive hospitality industry in Sweden. In connection with the strategy, a new tourism policy goal was decided.
The world is changing rapidly. How humans live and use the earth's resources is directly decisive for the future we create. The climate change and it´s impact on the environment and our surrounding world is not new knowledge, as well as the knowledge that travelers wear and tear on nature and cultural environments if not done in a long term sustainable way.
At the same time; tourism plays an important role in encounters between people and cultures and has great significance for people's social well-being by meetings, experiences and new ways of thinking. But it is also about how we as travelers can contribute to positive development in a destination.
As a location-bound and staff-intensive industry that creates many jobs, the tourism and hospitality industry is today significant for the Swedish economy. The tourism industry is a tool for increased regional development and a bridge between city and countryside.
Purposeful travel
In Visit Sweden's brand platform to promote the destination Sweden, to be used by Visit Sweden and others wanting to promote the destination Sweden, the Swedish travel brand promise "purposeful travel" describe the direction to position Sweden as a travel destination.
Traveling more purposeful means being responsible for how to travel around the world and what one does in the places being visited. It is an approach based on ecological, economic and social considerations sustainability and is basically about how we as individuals behave towards local people, nature and wildlife.
Brand manifesto for the destination Sweden
Visit Sweden has created a Brand Manifesto for Sweden as a destination. More about Visit Swedens brand and marketing activities is to be found here (in swedish):
UNWTO principles
Visit Sweden applies the UNWTO's principles of sustainable tourism as defined below.
Sustainability development refer to the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability.
- Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.
- Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.
- Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.