With its breathtaking natural landscape, cultural heritage and lively cities, Sweden offers a wealth
of inspiration as a meetings and incentives destination.
The country sits in16th place in the ICCA 2010 Country Rankings report with 192 qualifying meetings. Stockholm, it’s capital, is in 17th place in ICCA’s City Report, with 89 qualifying meetings.
The international conference and meetings market in Sweden is predominately based in five Swedish regions. These are: Stockholm, which is trendy and innovative; Swedish Lapland, with its expanses, silence and natural resources; West Sweden, known for its sea, sailing and the archipelago with its thousands of islands and small fishing communities; Gothenburg which has a multi-faceted international business community, the largest harbour in Scandinavia, two international airports, and large groups of immigrants, and Malmö and Skåne which represent expansion, with new arenas and hotel facilities being planned and constructed in the region.
There are a number of new developments for conferences and meetings in Sweden. Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre and Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel opened in January 2011 and is Sweden’s newest and most versatile venue complex for large-scale meetings and events built on the waters’ edge. It has the capacity to host up to 3,000 people.
Scandic Grand Central hotel, in Stockholm, opened in October 2011 with 391 rooms and is a flexible meeting and conference venue for
up to 120 delegates.
Clarion Hotel Post has been open for business since January 2012 and is the Choice hotel chain’s flagship hotel in Scandinavia. It is a four-star property centrally located in Gothenburg. The hotel has 500 hotel rooms and can host events for up to 1,500 people. The hotel also offers 17 smaller meeting rooms.
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Fast facts:
- Sweden has a population of 9.3m inhabitants
- It is the third largest country in Western Europe with 53 per cent of it made up of forests, 11 per cent mountains, eight per cent cultivated land and nine per cent lakes and rivers
- Sweden’s most important export goods are machinery, electronics and telecommunication, paper, pharmaceuticals, petroleum products, iron and steel, and foodstuffs
- Sweden has yet to ratify the Euro treaty, its currency is the Krona
- Daylight hours vary dramatically in Sweden. On January 1 in Stockholm there are six hours of daylight, on July 1, 18 hours
- In 2011, foreign visitors to Sweden consumed a value of 87.1bn Swedish Crowns. This means that the Swedish tourism industry has a higher export value than both iron and steel exports and car exports
- Norway, Germany and Denmark are the three largest markets providing
foreign visitors to Sweden - Airlines have cut their prices and introduced new classes of travel to meet the competition. SAS Scandinavian Airlines, the national carrier, operates connecting flights to major cities in Sweden via Stockholm
- Average life expectancy in Sweden is 79 for men and 83 for women
- Eating out: Try a typical Swedish smorgasbord-style breakfast; a dagens ratt (dish of the day) at lunchtime, served in most restaurants 11am to 2pm and maybe a local varmkorv hotdog for an evening snack.
This was first published in the Issue 67 edition of CMW. Any comments? Email cmw@mashmedia.net
