Lithuania presented at tourism event in Stockholm

The event targeting Sweden‘s tourism businesses and representatives of the media was held in the Residence of the Lithuanian ambassador.

The aim of the event was to promote the Lithuanian tourism opportunities for the Swedish tourism business representatives and journalists and to further develop the contacts with the tourism media in order to inform the Swedish society about the Lithuanian tourism opportunities, tourist routes and the topical news of the tourism sector. The Lithuanian State Department of tourism spokeswoman Olga Gončarova and other representatives of the Lithuanian tourism sector attended the event and made the presentations.

The event was opened by the Ambassador of Lithuania in Sweden Eitvydas Bajarūnas. Ambassador stressed that this is not the first event in Stockholm and other Swedish cities promoting the rising Lithuanian tourism business opportunities. At the beginning of the year Lithuanian tourism was presented at the opening of a new direct flight Vilnius-Stockholm. In March, Lithuania was presented at the largest Scandinavian tourism exhibition in Göteborg. In June Lithuanian tourism presentation took place in Luleå and Östersundo cities in Northern Sweden. There were also several tourism events in Stockholm.

From Sweden Lithuania can be reached by a ferry line Karlshamn-Klaipeda operated by the company DFDS ferry and company`s Tallink-SiljaLine ferry line Stockholm-Riga. There are regular daily flights from Stockholm and Malmö to Lithuania by SAS, Norwegian Air, Air Baltic and WizzAir flight companies.

According to the ambassador Bajarūnas, this is a solid ground to hope that the Swedes will continue to actively discover Lithuania. The recent visit of the Swedish Royal couple to Lithuania serves as a catalyst promoting closer relations and visibility of the country.

According to the Ambassador, tourism is one of the most important sectors of the economy in the countries of the Baltic Sea region, so it is very important to exploit the existing potential. Tourism remains an important and efficient tool, allowing people to better acquaint with Lithuania and introduce our country’s history, traditions, culture, heritage, landscape, sports and national cuisine.

The event was attended by over 40 people, mostly Swedish media and tourism representatives. The participants of the showed great interest in Lithuanian SPA sector, medical and conference tourism.

The participants had an opportunity to enjoy and experience a traditional Lithuanian cuisine, presented by one of the most famous Lithuanian chefs Linas Samėnas. There was also an opportunity to taste Lithuanian Kalnapilis beer at the event.

According to the State Tourism Department, Sweden falls into the top ten largest Lithuanian inbound tourism markets. According to the Department of Statistics, the number of tourists from Sweden to Lithuania grew over 6 percent, compared to 2014, and totalled about 47,000.