CEO Letter September 2024 – Newsletter from Next Skövde’s CEO Mats Olsson

More Young People Want to Work in Hospitality and Tourism

For the third year in a row, applications to hotel and tourism programs are increasing significantly. The programs certified and quality assured by Visita are seeing the highest demand.

Heinz Glöckler, project manager at Visita, notes: “We’ve seen this trend for three years now, with the certified programs leading the way. They’ve developed their processes with the hotel industry helping schools market the range of jobs available in hospitality.”

He believes many young people are attracted by modern hotels offering much more than just a room for the night: “After the pandemic, hotels have become more of a destination with conferences, spas and so on. Hotels are good at showcasing this diversity.”

New Report Shows Need for More Hotel Rooms in Skövde by 2030

Next Skövde and Skövde Municipality have conducted a comprehensive lodging analysis identifying the future need for hotel capacity in the municipality up to 2030.

The analysis shows Skövde faces a significant increase in demand for hotel rooms, driven by both existing businesses and upcoming development projects. The need for hotel rooms in Skövde is expected to increase by an average of 6.5% per year until 2030.

To meet demand, there is a need to add approximately 150 hotel rooms and 300 beds, in addition to the already planned expansion of Clarion Collection Hotel Majoren by about 70 rooms. Currently there are 9 hotels in Skövde municipality with a total of about 730 rooms, so this represents an increase of about 20%.

Skövde Invests in Welcome House for New Residents and Visitors

Welcome House Skövde is the meeting place where new residents, visitors, Skövde residents, Skaraborg residents and curious people get tips, guidance and valuable contacts. Skövde Municipality and Next Skövde are developing Skövde Tourist Center into a combined visitor reception and relocation guidance center.

At Welcome House, visitors can get help with:

• Questions about housing, job market, education, schools, childcare, leisure activities and other community services in Skövde
• Tips on excursions, shopping, activities, events, nature experiences
• Maps and tourist information, souvenirs and books
• Purchase of event tickets
• CV help

Many Visitors Enjoyed Brilliant Sunshine During the Food Festival in Skövde

The food, music and wonderful atmosphere were in focus on Friday and Saturday when Skövde’s city festival Food Festival was organized and Skövde was filled with lots of visitors. A new feature this year was the small stage in Church Park where artists offered music and entertainment.

The festival jury selected winners in categories like Best Framing, Best Service, and the Food Festival’s Grand Prize. Festival visitors also voted for the People’s Choice winner.

Free Activities Attracted Thousands to Summer Square in Skövde

Summer Square in Skövde closed for the season on August 18 after 66 open days. It has been a fantastic summer with a total of 18,000 visits compared to 14,000 last year. The visitor numbers have been evenly spread throughout the summer.

Summer Square is organized by Skövde City Collaboration and has offered many free activities on Hertig Johan’s Square. Some of this year’s new activities have been Twister and stick horses.

Marketing of Cycling Experiences on Billingen

For the first year, we have now carried out a more comprehensive campaign linked to our new cycling experience on Billingen. We have had several influencers visiting such as Roadtrip Sverige, Johanna (Snickarglädjen) Berglund, Happyride and Louise (Louilouie) Johannesson.

Print ads have been seen in SJ’s onboard magazine Kupé, MTRX onboard magazine Bon Voyage, Naturkompaniet’s magazine 365 and Outdoormagasinet which was published together with DN and DI.

Survey of Summer Visitors to Skövde

Between June 15 and August 15, 2024, we interviewed 430 visitors to Skövde. Key findings include:

• 2/3 of visitors come from Skaraborg or other parts of Västra Götaland
• The majority travel with partners and children, with an average age of 46
• 8 out of 10 traveled to Skövde by car
• Half of visitors stay overnight, with an average stay of 3 nights
• The two main reasons for visiting Skövde are sports cups and Billingen
• 96% of tourists think they will visit Skövde again
• The average visitor spends 778 SEK per day