VisitSweden Development Blog

In launching an online community, VisitSweden will use social media as a tool for promoting an entire country – a highly innovative approach that only a handful of countries have tested. Previous and potential visitors, as well as Swedes, will be able to discuss Sweden as a tourist destination – for instance sharing travel experiences, giving useful tips and learning about the country – in an online community to be launched this autumn. The community will be at a location linked to VisitSweden’s official tourism website, and will be the first one to focus on an entire country.

Sweden has a strong international brand, with diverse themes for travel, including design and culture, mountains and archipelagoes, food and children’s activities. However information on these themes must be more accessible and always up to date. VisitSweden, with the objective of promoting Sweden, Swedish destinations and experiences to an international audience, is always looking for efficient ways to reach the selected group of people who are most likely to travel to the country.

The trend towards interactivity and user-generated content on the internet, also known as web 2.0, is growing exponentially. Internet users are keen to tell others about their travel experiences and share information about their favourite places. An online community at www.visitsweden.com will be the link between the people who know and love Sweden, and those who are curious to learn more. The virtual meeting place will enjoy a high degree of credibility, since the users themselves will be able to present ”their” Sweden.

”We hope that the foreign visitors, together with residents of Sweden, will become a natural part of the international marketing of Sweden, by inspiring one another”, says Maria Ziv, marketing communications director at VisitSweden, and adds: ”There is a huge potential for a Sweden-related community, and we want it to complement and strengthen our other marketing activities, such as consumer marketing”.

In particular, VisitSweden aims to reach young childless couples, who are an important group for travel to Sweden and regular internet users.

”An online community can make Sweden’s vast range of experiences accessible to anyone, regardless of time and place. Today there are communities for almost every area of interest, but not a single one with the aim of marketing a particular country”, says Hans Leijström, community expert at Trive, which together with VisitSweden is developing a concept and platform for an official Sweden community.

Trive will base the community on StarCommunity, a product from Netstar.

The development of VisitSweden’s community will take place in a completely open environment. Future users and potential partners in the Swedish tourism industry will be able to follow and influence its development by way of a newly started blog, http://devblog.visitsweden.com. The blog will be an important part of the community’s development, and communication with the blog’s readers will inform many strategic decisions.

For more information on VisitSweden | www.visitsweden.com

Blog on the development of the Sweden community | http://devblog.visitsweden.com

For more information on Trive | www.trive.se

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