Delays and canceled trains and the closure of Kiruna airport due to renovation mean that some tourist facilities have lost one in five guests.
– We lose a lot of revenue in a situation like this, says Ulrika Nordgren, marketing director at the Swedish Tourist Association.
Extensive track work, late ticket releases and a new booking system just before the summer rush started are behind the problems with train traffic in Northern Sweden that affect mountain tourism.
– I have read on Facebook and in many hiking groups that many people have had problems. It’s been a very short time since the ticket releases, so it’s been quite difficult to plan, says Emil Nylander, who travels from Malmö to Sarek, when TV4 meets him at the train station in Boden.
Big loss in June
STF’s facilities in the north have lost 12 percent of guests in June compared to last year. The tourist facilities in Abisko and Kebnekaise have had as much as 19 percent fewer guest nights.
– It is frustrating. We lose a lot of revenue in a situation like this. We need to cancel arrangements that have been planned for a long time. We have difficulty getting seasonal staff to these places and we have had to cancel both very individual guests but also large groups that had trips planned for a long time, says Ulrika Nordgren, marketing director at the Swedish Tourist Association.
Vy regrets
Vy, which runs night trains from southern Sweden to the mountains in the north, regrets the many disturbances which they believe are due to the Swedish Transport Administration’s track works and that the change of the booking system would not have actually taken place before the summer high season.
– When the industry was going to change the system and had planned to change it last autumn, there were complications in the change which meant that it was decided to have to postpone and this has led to the fact that we have unfortunately had to release this system for the entire industry now at the beginning of the summer, explains Petter Östmar, business manager Vy night train Norrland.
Stability is desired
Cooperation between the Swedish Transport Administration, the tourist facilities and the train operator gives hope for improvements.
– But in the long term, which is the most important thing, we need a more stable train service. We need earlier ticket releases and we also believe in an expansion of the ore railway so that it can handle both passenger traffic and freight traffic in a good way, concludes Ulrika Nordgren, marketing director at the Swedish Tourist Association.