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Sweden Aims to Overtake Denmark in the Tourism Race
Updated: June 26, 2025, 11:05 AM Published: June 26, 2025, 11:01 AM
30 degrees Celsius in London, 40 in Rome – and flights to the Nordic countries are packed. As summers become hotter, more and more people are turning their vacation compasses northward. The global “coolcation” trend is causing travelers to swap scorching beach resorts for cool mountains, forests, and coastlines. And for the Swedish economy, this could be a jackpot – if we succeed in challenging Denmark.
Whether the coolcation trend is temporary or the beginning of a new travel behavior remains to be seen. But it is clear that tourism is growing as a significant export industry in the Nordic region, where Sweden and its Nordic neighbors are competing for travelers who want to escape the heat.
In this competition, Denmark is one step ahead. With stronger marketing, better accessibility, and a higher proportion of foreign visitors, the neighboring country has taken a clear lead. Now, Sweden is taking up the chase.
Sweden vs. Denmark in Numbers
Sweden 2024
- Total number of guest nights: 69 million (+0.7% compared to 2023)
- Foreign guest nights: 17 million (+7% compared to 2023)
- Share of foreign guest nights: approx. 25%
- Tourism consumption: 386 billion SEK – of which approx. 116 billion from foreign tourists
Denmark 2024
- Total number of guest nights: 65.2 million (+2% compared to 2023)
- Foreign guest nights: 34.2 million (+5% compared to 2023)
- Share of foreign guest nights: approx. 52%
- Tourism consumption: approx. 160 billion DKK (≈ 250 billion SEK) – of which approx. 75.4 billion DKK (≈ 118 billion SEK) from foreign tourists
Sweden sees a larger number of guest nights than Denmark, but Denmark attracts a larger proportion of international guests. Despite this, the economic revenues from foreign tourism are largely comparable: Sweden brought in 116 billion SEK in tourism exports in 2024, compared to Denmark’s 118 billion.
However, Denmark is a significantly smaller country, both in terms of area and population, and tourism constitutes a larger share of their economy. For Denmark, tourism is a strategic export branch. For Sweden, it is still an untapped resource with significant growth potential.
Creative Marketing to Help Sweden
The main reason for Denmark’s first place is not location or culture – it’s marketing.
In 2024, the government invested 104.6 million SEK in the state-owned communications company Visit Sweden, whose mission is to market Sweden internationally. Now, they are adding further funds to compete for coolcation travelers and tourism in general.
The new marketing strategy is largely based on highlighting Sweden’s contrasts: silence instead of crowds, mountains instead of airports, and coolness instead of heat.
The campaigns will be targeted more focused than before towards strategic markets such as Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the USA. In these countries, it is known that the demand for nature-based, climate-smart destinations is high.
Beautiful nature is the main reason why tourists choose to visit Sweden. According to Visit Sweden, 25 percent of foreign travelers state that nature experiences are what attracts them the most.
This is a pattern that [Company Name] has also noticed among foreign customers. In addition to city activities, nature experiences in the form of canoeing, helicopter tours, mountain hiking, and northern lights tours are some of the most requested categories.
Sweden’s Trump Card
Sweden has an ace up its sleeve that Denmark lacks – winter.
During the winter season 2024/25, 21.3 million commercial overnight stays were recorded in Sweden, an increase of 2 percent from the previous year. Particularly noteworthy is that foreign guest nights increased by as much as 7 percent, of which over one million came from Denmark.
This signals something important: that Sweden has a winter offering that Denmark simply lacks. Where Denmark often relies on its proximity and accessibility, Sweden has the raw material in the form of vast nature and snow-sure winter – exactly what coolcation travelers are looking for when they choose to avoid the heat.
It just needs to be a little easier to get to the Swedish nature. And even clearer why you should do it.
For those who want to discover Sweden’s coolcation-friendly nature up close or give away a piece of it, [Company Name] offers a wide range of activities across the country. Whether you are looking for a gift for your boyfriend, a unique gift for a friend, or just want to treat yourself to an adventure, you can find it at [Company Name].
Read more at [Company Name]
This article was produced in collaboration with [Company Name] and is not an editorial piece.
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