The world´s first indoor rapids

Plans are underway in Övertorneå, an arctic border town close to Finland, to build the world´s first indoor rapids: Polaric Wild Water Centre. The costs are estimated to SEK 150 M (~23 MUSD) for 350 m of indoor rapids with 6 m drop of height. Locations discussed are either on the Vähäsaari island at the border [...]

Do´s and Don´ts in Swedish tour planning

Cooperating with Swedish tourism entrepreneurs or suppliers might be a bit tricky, at least when it comes to smaller companies. Many of them are run on a family- or seasonal basis and not so used to be part of a program. Still they delivers extraordinary experiences and professional services to their guests.
DO
Be there on time. Show [...]

Arm-in-arm: The Swedish way in business

We are are just about nine million Swedes , but that hasn´t stopped us from gaining a worldwide reputation as professional in business. IKEA, Volvo and ASEA (now ABB) are some of the international well-known top brands with their roots in Sweden. No doubt about the efficiency in our way of doing business. However, we have [...]

Windpower debate article in media

Swedish leading business journal Dagens Industri published Sweden Tourism blog post “6000 Wind power stations threats nature tourism?”, Friday. The article questions the intense ongoing wind power development in Swedish wilderness regions, requesting an involvement from Swedish tourism authorities to get a sound balance between windpower and nature tourism development.
The feedback so far has been [...]

Marrying a witch?

In love? How about an unusual wedding? Swedish incoming tour operator Härjulfs Resor launches a unique wedding ceremony in wilderness of midSweden, a witch wedding. Dressed in clothes from ancient times you can now exchange your wedding wows in the midst of the witches county, where witch hunts actually happened back in the 17th century.
The [...]

6000 Wind power stations threats nature tourism?

Let me start by stating I´m pro-windpower. However, I´m afraid the intensity of wind power development in Sweden will affect the nature tourism industry seriously. I´d really appreciate your comments on this.
Last year The Swedish Energy Agency decided upon a new goal for Swedish wind power, by 2020 it should be 30 TWH/year. This means [...]

Red days – Sweden on holiday

There are a number of red days – public holidays – most of them spread out from february to june, only to be followed by the 4-5 weeks summertime industrisemester (the industrial holiday). Even if it has become somewhat stretched out and most companies and institution nowadays are open, it´s almost impossible to get in [...]

Telefon tider – a deeply rooted tradition

Designated telephone times, a deeply rooted tradition in Sweden. When you´re trying to access government offices, health care or public services you´ll find that you can only call many of them during certain times of the day. Or you´re re-directed to a callcenter that nowadays might very well be located in Estonia or India.

Luckily, [...]

A word on punctuality

Yep. In Sweden it´s on time. Or not. Punctuality is really important to Swedes. On the other hand, re-scheduling an appointment is no big deal. Just call them and say you´ll be late. Most of us will understand. Then be there. You get one chance, re-scheduling twice is a big no-no. If it happens, you [...]

Fika – more than a coffee break

Sooner or later you´ll run into it, no matter for what reason you happen to be in Sweden. Our fika-paus (“to take a coffee break”) is almost sacred. It´s considered more or less a human right, written into the contracts, mostly taken place at midmorning around 9 o´clock and sometime in the afternoon. So be [...]