Growth and Development Day opened TUR
TUR's Growth and Development Day started on a positive note. During 2010 the Swedish travel and tourism industry will grow by 3 per cent. At the same time Minister for Infrastructure Åsa Torstensson promised making contacts with authorities easier in order to facilitate the operation of growing tourist businesses.
In the packed auditorium Jan Lundin, president of the Swedish Travel and Tourist Industry Federation (RTS), was all sunshine; partly because of the positive trends, and partly because of the huge interest shown in the Growth and Development Day.
“We are broadcasting all seminars live on the web to enable more people to take part in the programme. The fact that we also have two ministers present - Åsa Torstensson and Maud Olofsson - shows that we have created an important meeting place where different actors can meet and discuss future key questions for the industry.”
One of the most important issues, says Jan Lundin, is the infrastructure. Travelling to and within Sweden has to be simple.
“All roads should lead to a tourist attraction, and we also need to increase the amount of attractive products to continue to grow as a destination.”
90 per cent of the tourists in Sweden stay in the major cities. This is something Jan Lundin would like to change.
“Sweden's strongest offer to foreign visitors is our countryside, wildlife and our cultural heritage. To get the tourists to visit other parts of the country the infrastructure has to be improved.”
Åsa Torstensson agreed and took the opportunity to elaborate on the government's new initiative to attract more tourists to Sweden.
“Entrepreneurs within the tourism industry are fed up with filling out forms and being shipped around between authorities instead of developing their business. For instance, it's been extremely complicated to get permission to put up signposts to help tourists find their way. This is something we'd like to facilitate. Signpost politics is crucial to get small businesses to meet their customers.”