SCANDINAVIA

There is a lot more to the Nordic nations than flat-pack furniture, as rising incoming tourist figures seem to prove.

SCANDINAVIA

Attracting visitors: the Norwegian Tourist Board is spending £500,000 on a UK-wide campaign to encourage tourists to visit places such as Trondheim

LAST year’s appointment of a Swedish manager to help reverse the fortunes of the England football team certainly caused a heated debate among English fans over whether a foreigner should run the national side.

Whether or not you agree with the Football Association’s decision, Scandinavia has not received as much media coverage since Abba were top of the UK charts and Bjorn Borg ruled the tennis courts.

To the average Briton, Scandinavia equals Vikings, a shortage of daylight and flat-pack furniture.

However, thanks to the extra exposure, more UK travellers are aware of the region than ever before and are starting to discover that the Nordic countries are home to more than they first imagined.

Swedish Travel and Tourism Council director Barbro Mcausland said: “Sweden has lots of innovative things. The chefs are often young and introduce new and fresh ideas to cuisine, and our music recording studios are world famous for working with pop stars such as Britney Spears.”

Sweden continues to perform strongly, witnessing a 10% rise in UK visitor arrivals last year, and early-booking figures for this year show a 40% increase in January on the same time last year.

It is not just Sweden that is benefiting from the surge of interest. Figures released by other Scandinavian tourist boards show a marked increase in inbound tourism from the UK.

The number of UK overnight visitors to Denmark rose to 488,000 last year, an increase of 19% on 1999’s levels. While some of these visited rural Denmark, it was Copenhagen that continued to draw in the bulk of UK overnight stays – 327,433 of them, a 20% increase on the previous year.

The figure establishes the UK as the second-largest inbound market to the capital, trailing only behind neighbouring Sweden.

Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus, has also enjoyed a 65% increase in UK bednights to 40,607 last year, compared with 24,553 in 1999.

Several airlines are introducing more services to satisfy the demand to Sweden. British Regional Airlines has a new daily flight between Manchester and Gothenburg; Ryanair has introduced two new services – a daily flight to Stockholm Västerås, just over 60 miles west of Stockholm, and a twice-daily service to Gothenburg Säve, 15 minutes from the city centre. SAS has a new direct twice-daily flight between Dublin and Stockholm, and has also increased the number of flights between Heathrow and Stockholm from six to eight a day.

Finland also enjoyed an increase in registered UK bednights with 2000 showing a rise of 13% on 1999 – 361,306 compared to 319,925.

The largest percentage increase is in the amount of bednights in Lapland, confirming the region’s popularity among the British, particularly for romantic weddings and during the Christmas period. Last year the region notched up a 48% increase on 1999, with 75,170 bednights compared with 56,532.

The Norwegian Tourist Board is to spend more than £500,000 on a UK-wide advertising campaign in partnership with SAS and cruise operator Norwegian Coastal Voyage.

The campaign will run over the next two months with the strapline:’So captivating you will lose all track of time. Norway – beyond the obvious.’

NTB director Per Holte said that initial fears that the foot and mouth crisis could harm Norway’s incoming tourism have not been realised.

“There was uncertainty about factors we can’t do anything about, such as the foot and mouth crisis,” he said.

“But things are going quite well and I feel a lot more secure now. We are still optimistic about the summer season,” he added.

There was a 19% increase in visitors in January and the remainder of the season has sold well with the major Norwegian ski operators – Crystal, Neilson and Thomson – all reporting good figures for this year’s winter season in Norway.

Motours is also confident about the market and has added tailor-made touring holidays in Denmark and Sweden to this year’s programme.

Taber Holidays’ Norway Only brochure features independent and escorted tours, self-catering holidays and cruises.

A 10-night tour of Voss, Balestrand and Loen costs £808 between June 1 and August 24, with flights from Newcastle.