Most western countries have a well established system of tourism, Sweden is no exception. People visit the country for all manner of reasons. In summer you can enjoy sunbathing at midnight, and in winter you can visit the "real" Santa Claus or one of them at least, at Santaworld in Mora in Dalarna.
As part of its drive of tourism, Sweden promotes itself as the land of Santa Claus. However, Neighboring Finland strongly opposing this claim, and they do have more northern lands as well. To add to the confusion, Norway also has its "official" Santa Claus. Needless to say, Santa is a big tourism draw.
Tourism Sweden style is more than Volvos, IKEA, memories of ABBA, Ericsson cell phones, and blonde film actresses in Hollywood. The stereotypes that we think of when Sweden is mentioned do exist to some extent, but like most stereotypes they are less than the total reality.
Sweden has some 24,000 islands surrounding its coastline. Some of them are little more than rocky "skerries" as they call them, but some are much bigger. Stockholm, the capital, is built on a number of islands - 14 of them at least.
Sweden is a vast land with around 85 percent of its nine million plus people living in urban areas. This makes it a country with a very low population density, only 52 per square mile on average. The standard of living in Sweden is high. This is a modern country well geared up for tourism. Sweden has much to offer the interested traveler.
Sweden, like its other Scandinavian neighbors, has a Viking past. The Viking heritage features well in all forms of tourism. Sweden is rightly proud of its pillaging berserkers from an earlier age. It is proud too that this is where the Nobel Peace Prize originated, quite a contrast from pillaging berserker Vikings!
The tourist to Sweden has plenty of activities and sights to choose from. The north offers skiing, snow-mobiling, cross-country dog-sledding, and mountain climbing. You can even stop for a night in a ice hotel - yes, a real hotel made from ice - in Jukksjärvi. It's certainly a novelty and you are advised not to turn up the heating too far.
Anyone wishing to track down a berserker Viking or two should go to Birka. It stands on an island on Lake Mälaren and it has a major museum dedicated to Viking the finding of excavations that took place in the area.
The island of Gotland has the Hanseatic town of Visby. This was where the main center of the Hanseatic League was. The league was a trading alliance of Nordic sea ports that controlled fishing in the Baltic Sea, and to some extent the North Sea too. Visby is well preserved as a fortified city of medieval commerce, and worth a visit.
When it comes to tourism, Sweden certainly has much to offer. It is a land of many contrasts and the traveler can hardly find the time to be bored. Go to Sweden for the Midnight Sun in summer, Go to Sweden for the skiing and climbing. Go to Sweden for the island hopping and the fishing. For tourism, Sweden is where to go.
