SWEDEN TOURISM ADMINISTRATIVE AND TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION

The current organisational structure of Sweden’s tourism at national level was determined by an act of parliament in 2005. Two organisations, the government agency Tillväxtverket (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth) and the partly stated owned company VisitSweden AB, are responsible for tourism at the national level.

Tillväxtverket focuses on tourism industry issues, and develops activities to promote tourism initiatives and entrepreneurship. The agency is also responsible for official tourism statistics and the production and dissemination of knowledge about the development of tourism and its effects on the Swedish economy.

VisitSweden (formerly the Swedish Travel & Tourism Council) is a company owned jointly by the government and the Swedish tourism industry, and is responsible for marketing Sweden as a tourism destination abroad.

In addition, there are tourism bodies at both regional and local levels. These are managed by the regions and local communities, respectively. There are no formal links between the different administrative levels.

Cooperation (selection)

• Visita - industry and employers’ organization for the hospitality industry.
• Svensk Turism AB – industry organization. Co-owner of VisitSweden AB together with the Swedish state. Svensk Turism AB is owned by approx. 170 tourism companies and organizations, and in 2010 launched a strategy for the Swedish hospitality industry/tourism.
• BFUF - Industry and the labour organizations set up a fund in 2009 to support projects in research and innovation