This week is the “Almedalsveckan”, an event and meeting place in Visby, Gotland, with an unusual combination of political summit and openness. It is also associated with an informal atmosphere, intimacy, discussion, democracy, seminars and further education and training.

Jeppe was invited to participate in a panel discussion on the topic “Can we make Swedish tourism more sustainable by upscaling successful examples”. The panel discussion was organized by VISITA and included participants from Hotell S:t Clemens, Långbro Värdshus, Fazer Food Services, WWF and Chalmers University of Technology.

The discussion covered sub-topics such as food waste, sustainable travel and energy efficiency, and lasted 45 min in front of a filled courtyard with an enthusiastic audience.

Jeppe finished off with the message, “Sweden has got all the potential to become a successful and sustainable tourism destination, but in order to get there we need to respect the fact that it is a fairly young and inexperienced destination that has lots to learn. Sweden needs to learn from the successful and experienced destinations around the world but also do its homework when if comes to unsuccessful destinations. It requires cooperation and strong political leadership with cross-sector decisions in order to facilitate the maximum possibilities for this fast-growing industry. We need to be bold and we need to be brave. And we need to decide who we want to be and what sort of clients we wish to attract. We need to do this and the time is now.”