ALPHA. Demokratiskolan.se is a PROTOTYPE · Content review in progress
Demokratiskolan
The Tourism card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 116 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaSweden in the world
  • Centre of gravityThe municipality
  • Points of influence2 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe municipal election
Sweden in the world

Tourism

Sights, activities, tourism & visas

Tourism is one of Sweden's large industries and at the same time a question of who gets to come here: the visa rules are set in EU cooperation while the destinations are built at home. Here the power is unusually evenly spread. The central government markets Sweden, the regions run destination companies and your municipality (kommun) decides whether the campsite, the hiking trail and the event happen.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · destinations, plans & events · approx 35 %
  • Region · destination companies & strategy · approx 25 %
  • State · visas & promoting sweden · approx 25 %
  • EU · schengen & visa rules · approx 15 %

The visitor industry is shaped mostly by municipal decisions on land, events and destinations, with the region's destination company as the engine. The visa rules, though, are a matter for the central government and the EU. The municipal election decides the most locally.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe destination · centre of gravity
The regionThe engine
Central governmentThe door and the shop window
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) and the committees, often a municipal destination company or business development office.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige), the regional development committee and the county's destination company.
The Government, Tillväxtverket as the responsible agency, the state-owned Visit Sweden, plus the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) and the embassies for visas.
What do they decide?
Tourist information, event support, detailed development plans (detaljplan) for hotels and campsites, trails, bathing spots and guest harbours.
Markets the county, coordinates municipalities and industry, points out the visitor industry in the regional development strategy.
National tourism policy and statistics, marketing of Sweden abroad and decisions on who gets a visa to visit.
Where are decisions made?
In the council, the committees and company boards. Detailed development plans always go out for public consultation (samråd).
In the regional development committee and in the boards of the destination companies.
In the Government Offices and in the agencies' decisions. Visa applications are examined at the missions abroad.
Who pays?
The municipal tax, sometimes together with the industry and EU funds.
The regional tax and regional development funds, often matched with EU funds.
The central government budget funds the promotion and the agencies. Visa fees are paid by the applicant.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Respond to consultations on detailed development plans, propose better destinations through a citizen's proposal (medborgarförslag) in many municipalities.
Regional election The regional election steers the development strategy. The destination companies listen to businesses and associations.
General election The general election steers tourism policy and the visa line.
EUThe Schengen cooperation gives free movement and a common visa policy: the same short-stay visa applies across the whole area. Shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A town becomes a destination
  1. EU

    The journey is made possible

    Schengen and free movement decide who can travel here without a visa, and the EU's common visa rules steer the rest. Without those decisions many guests never set off.

  2. State

    Sweden is marketed

    Visit Sweden raises Sweden as a destination abroad and Tillväxtverket supports the visitor industry with knowledge and programmes. The Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) and the embassies examine the visa applications.

  3. Region

    The county points out the direction

    The region's destination company gathers municipalities and businesses: which destinations should be promoted, which corridors should be developed? The visitor industry is written into the regional development strategy.

    Point of influence

    The development strategy is drawn up in dialogue. Businesses, associations and residents can take part, and the regional election decides who makes the decisions.

  4. Municipality

    The town is built for visitors

    The municipality plans the land for the hotel, upgrades the trail, supports the event and looks after the bathing spot. The detailed development plan for the new hotel goes out for consultation where everyone concerned gets to comment.

    Point of influence

    Respond to the consultation, raise ideas through a citizen's proposal (medborgarförslag) in many municipalities or get involved in the local heritage association.

  5. Your everyday life

    Summer jobs and full outdoor cafés

    The tourists come, the summer jobs grow more numerous and the bakery dares to stay open all year round. But the crowding at the most popular spots raises new questions, and they land in the same municipal hall.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. What would bring more people to visit your town, and who has the power to arrange it?

  2. Tourism brings jobs but can wear on nature and the housing market. How does the balance look where you live?

  3. Should municipalities spend tax money on attracting tourists, or is that the industry's own job?

  4. Which places in your municipality do you proudly show visitors, and which would you most like to develop?

  5. Who benefits and who loses out from today's visa rules for visitors?

Glossary

Destinationsbolag
A company, often municipally or regionally owned, that markets and develops a destination.
Schengen
The European cooperation with free movement without internal border controls and common visa rules.
Detaljplan
The municipality's legally binding plan for how land may be used, decided after public consultation.
Regional utvecklingsstrategi
The region's long-term plan for the county's development, which the visitor industry is often part of.
Allemansrätten
The right to move freely in nature with responsibility, a foundation for Swedish nature tourism.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.