Stockholm's tourism industry January 2009
506,000 guest nights at hotels, hostels and vacation villages 2009 began the same way that 2008 ended – with a drop-off for hotels, hostels and vacation villages in Stockholm County. The decline was primarily due to business travelers, who booked fewer rooms at County hotels during the first month of the year. However accommodation facilities in Stockholm fared better than in Sweden as a whole. This is particularly the case for the more central districts of Stockholm. While the number of guest nights in the county beyond Stockholm declined by 8 percent, the decline in the city proper remained at 1 percent. Camping is not included in these accommodation figures. It is only reported on an annual basis The number of overnight stays in hotels, hostels and vacation villages in Stockholm County 1 200 000 1 000 000 800 000
2008 2009
600 000 400 000 200 000 0
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
The number of overnight stays in hotels, hostels and vacation villages 2009 compared with 2008 January 2009
Comparison: Jan. 2008, %
Accumulated 2009
Comparison: Acc 2008, %
2,023,477
-4
2,023,477
-4
Stockholm County
506,293
-3
506,293
-3
- of which the City of Stockholm
353,327
-1
353,327
-1
- of which the rest of the county
152,966
-8
152,966
-8
- of which Swedes
357,036
-2
357,036
-2
- of which foreign visitors
149,257
-6
149,257
-6
Sweden
Source: Nutek and SCB
Where do the visitors come from? In January business guest nights in Stockholm County made up a quarter of all the overnight stays in the country. Seven out of ten overnight stays in the county during the month were by guests from Sweden. Swedish guest nights declined by 7,500 or 2 percent in January. Last year visitors from the Nordic countries were responsible for one out of six overnight stays by foreign visitors. The trend in the Nordic market has recently been favorable. January was also positive, with 5 percent more guest nights than during the same month in 2008, primarily due to a higher number of visits from Norway and Finland. In 2008 visitors from Europe excluding the Nordic countries were responsible for more than half of foreign guest nights. The number of overnight stays by visitors from the rest of Europe has been increasing for a long time. The trend became negative in December, and guest nights declined by 8,000 or 8 percent in January as well. Large markets that showed a decline include Great Britain (-13 %), Spain (-16 %), Italy (-10 %), France (-8 %) and Russia (-5 %). The trend for the important German market was more positive, with a five percent increase. With the exception of the occasional month, the number of non-European guest nights has been steadily declining since early summer 2008. In January the decline was 7 percent, which is equivalent to 2,500 guest nights.
Guest nights in hotels, hostels and vacation villages in Stockholm County and City distributed by country Jan-Dec 2008 County
January 2009 County
% of visitors to Sweden County
% of visitors to Sweden County
Comparison Acc. 2008 %, County
January 2009 City
Acc. 2009 City
5,742,582
357,036
22
- 2
357,036
22
-2
227,935
227,935
Denmark
126,641
6,536
7
- 9
6,536
7
-9
4,995
4,995
Norway
189,876
10,365
21
+ 21
10,365
21
+ 21
9,064
9,064
Finland
159,672
9,425
48
+ 7
9,425
48
+7
7,448
7,448
Iceland
9,042
240
46
- 66
240
46
- 66
174
174
Totals for Nordic countries (not incl. Sweden)
485,231
26,566
16
+ 5
26,566
16
+5
21,681
21,681
Germany
342,648
14,156
30
+ 5
14,156
30
+5
12,193
12,193
Great Britain
333,071
16,343
43
- 13
16,343
43
- 13
14,360
14,360
Ireland
20,603
1,368
61
- 9
1,368
61
-9
1,290
1,290
The Netherlands
87,557
3,651
31
- 24
3,651
31
- 24
3,210
3,210
Belgium
34,520
1,740
45
+ 7
1,740
45
+7
1,501
1,501
4,795
215
73
- 31
215
73
- 31
194
194
138,315
7,469
56
- 8
7,469
56
-8
6,640
6,640
Switzerland
69,248
2,682
57
+ 7
2,682
57
+7
2,389
2,389
Austria
35,927
1,263
39
+ 39
1,263
39
+ 39
1,031
1,031
Italy
155,941
9,689
67
- 10
9,689
67
- 10
9,118
9,118
Spain
115,050
3,470
60
- 16
3,470
60
- 16
2,888
2,888
Sweden
Luxembourg France
Compari- Accumulated. son, 2009 January County 2008, % County
Jan-Dec 2008 County
January 2009 County
% of visitors to Sweden County
% of visitors to Sweden County
Comparison Acc. 2008 %, County
January 2009 City
Acc. 2009 City
Portugal
17,294
634
52
- 19
634
52
- 19
573
573
Greece
18,445
702
69
+ 17
702
69
+ 17
622
622
Turkey
11,779
354
48
- 44
354
48
- 44
329
329
Russia
111,203
17,907
54
- 5
17,907
54
-5
12,303
12,303
Estonia
8,590
527
24
- 26
527
24
- 26
392
392
Latvia
7,554
366
32
+ 23
366
32
+ 23
309
309
Lithuania
5,141
238
30
- 42
238
30
- 42
199
199
Poland
33,558
1,479
36
+ 19
1,479
36
+ 19
1,023
1,023
The Czech Republic
10,935
707
44
+ 0
707
44
+0
295
295
Slovakia
5,122
82
9
- 64
82
9
- 64
80
80
Hungary
10,213
439
41
- 35
439
41
- 35
292
292
The rest of Europe
94,076
3,279
50
- 32
3,279
50
- 32
3,028
3,028
Totals for Europe excl. Nordic countries
1,671,585
88,760
45
- 8
88,760
45
-8
74,259
74,259
234,117
8,323
51
- 10
8,323
51
- 10
7,278
7,278
Canada
28,610
1,064
53
- 34
1,064
53
- 34
921
921
Central & South America
26,398
858
48
- 19
858
48
- 19
768
768
Japan
61,560
2,249
55
+ 17
2,249
55
+ 17
1,641
1,641
8,919
346
71
- 34
346
71
- 34
213
213
China
46,749
2,171
47
- 16
2,171
47
- 16
2,031
2,031
The rest of Asia
94,720
3,908
56
- 13
3,908
56
- 13
3,632
3,632
Australia
30,326
1,222
57
- 36
1,222
57
- 36
1,146
1,146
3,491
91
40
- 59
91
40
- 59
90
90
The rest of the world
112,144
1,793
27
- 84
1,793
27
- 84
1,727
1,727
Not indicated
143,239
11,906
67
+ 601
11,906
67
+ 601
10,005
10,005
Totals (excluding Europe)
790,273
33,931
54
- 7
33,931
54
-7
29,452
29,452
Totals from abroad
2,947,089
149,257
35
- 6
149,257
35
-6
125,392
125,392
Totals
8,689,671
506,293
25
- 3
506,293
25
-3
353,327
353,327
USA
South Korea
New Zeeland
Compari- Accumulated. son, 2009 January County 2008, % County
Trends in Sweden’s major cities Of the three metropolitan regions, Stockholm and the Stockholm region did the best in January: the decline remained at 1 percent in the city and 3 percent in the county. January was a poor month for Göteborg in particular, but the decline was palpable through the entire Västra Götaland region as well. The city of Malmö did better than the country as a whole during January, but the entire county of Skåne fared worse than the country as a whole.
The number of overnight stays in hotels, hostels and vacation villages 2009 compared with 2008 January 2009
Comparison: January 2008, %
Accumulated 2009
Comparison: Acc. 2008, %
Stockholm County
506,293
-3
506,293
-3
Greater Stockholm
506,293
-3
506,293
-3
Stockholm City
353,327
-1
353,327
-1
Västra Götaland County
239,508
-9
239,508
-9
Greater Göteborg
173,819
-8
173,819
-8
Göteborgs City
147,164
- 16
147,164
- 16
Skåne County
146,200
- 10
146,200
- 10
Greater Malmö
89,893
- 10
89,893
- 10
Malmö City
61,071
-2
61,071
-2
Hotels – who travels to Stockholm? The share of hotel rooms in Stockholm County booked by visitors in the city on business declined by 5 percent compared with January 2008, to 72 percent. The number of occupied hotel rooms has declined by 30,000 compared with January of last year. The number of rooms booked by business travelers declined by 41,000, to the same level as in 2007. The fact that 11,000 more rooms were booked by visitors who were in Stockholm privately compensated somewhat for the decline.
Company business Company conference Private group leisure Private leisure
January 2009
January 2006 - 2009
21%
300 000 250 000 200 000
7% 54%
18%
Business travel Leisure travel
150 000 100 000 50 000 0
2006
2007
2008
2009
Hotel – price trends The number of booked hotel rooms has declined since last year, for essentially all hotel categories throughout the county. The price paid for the booked rooms has also declined since last year. This is the case for all hotel categories, even centrally located 4- and 5-star hotels. Hotel lodging revenues were 351 million kronor in the county in January, of which 240 million kronor went to hotels in the city. This means that revenues have declined by 12 percent in the county and by 10 percent in the city compared with January 2008. Revenues, kr/occupied room
Total lodging revenues, million kr
January 2009
Comparison: January 2008, %
Accumuleted 2009
Comparison: Acc. 2008, %
January 2009
Comparison: January 2008, %
Accumuleted 2009
Comparison: Acc. 2008, %
Stockholm city
1,040
-5
1,040
-5
240.1
- 10
240.1
- 10
Stockholm county
1,026
-4
1,026
-4
351.0
- 12
351.0
- 12
Hotels – occupancy Capacity utilization at hotels in both the county and the city has declined since the beginning of the summer of 2008. The trend has been especially clear in recent months. In January the occupancy rate was just over 50 percent in the city, a decline of nearly 6 percent. 46 percent of available hotel rooms were booked in the county as a whole. The decline since January 2008 was around 6 percent in this case as well. We only see capacity utilization rates of 50 percent or above at hotels in central Stockholm, as well as at Arlanda and Huddinge/Botkyrka/Salem/Nykvarn.
Room occupancy rate in percentages of available rooms
n Fe b M ar s Ap ril M ay Ju ne Ju ly Au g Se p O ct N ov D ec
2008 2009
Ja
2008 2009
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Stockholm city 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Ja n Fe M b ar Ap s ri M l ay Ju ne Ju ly Au g Se p O ct N ov D ec
Stockholm county