Italy leads the way: strong interest in Swedish Lapland on roadshow

Last week, our Travel Trade Manager David Lind participated in a roadshow in Italy. It became clear that interest in our part of Sweden is greater than ever. During the trip, David participated in meetings with hand-picked tour operators in Milan and held a presentation at the Swedish Embassy in Rome. He highlighted the genuine and small-scale nature of Swedish Lapland, and received a strong response from the Italian travel industry.

“We have been working for a long time towards Italy, with the goal of establishing direct flight routes, and we notice that the work is bearing fruit. The collaboration with the team at Gateway South works well and yields a lot,” says David Lind.

The program included office visits to selected tour operators, a travel trade workshop in Milan and a final at the Swedish Embassy in Rome. In total, David conducted 17 meetings with Italian tour operators, all carefully handpicked by Gateway South to match our destination and offer. He also spoke to around 30 travel agents at the Swedish Embassy in Rome. Also on the trip were Susanne Wallin from Haparanda Stadshotell, David Atteroth from Viking Line, Olga Starling from Skansen, Lena Weberbauer from The Viking Museum, Annika Torstenson from Vrak and Marie Östblom from Stockholm Archipelago.

There is great interest in Swedish Lapland – especially among organizers looking for genuine, small-scale experiences without mass tourism.

“It is clear that our Arctic destination is perceived as both attractive and unique,” says David Lind.

The visit is part of a larger effort to strengthen the presence in the Italian market, where the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board, among other things, collaborates with Gateway South on activities such as field trips, workshops, PR efforts and evaluation of the possibilities of a direct flight between Milan and Swedish Lapland.

The figures speak for themselves: in 2024, the number of Italian overnight stays in Swedish Lapland increased by 25 percent compared with the previous year. More and more Italians are also choosing to travel during the low season, which opens up new opportunities to spread visits throughout the year.

David came home with inspiration, contacts and even more conviction that Swedish Lapland is the right place at the right time – also for the Italian traveler.