 Scotland has been marketed in Sweden |
The number of tourists travelling to Scotland from Sweden has doubled in the last two years, according to figures. The statistics released by the Scottish Executive also showed that spending by visitors from the country almost trebled in the space of a year.
The rise is being attributed to the launch of new direct air routes and a promotional push in Sweden.
About 37,000 people travelled from Sweden to Scotland this year. In 2003, Swedes spent �17m in Scotland.
That figure compared to �6m in 2002, a year when 17,000 people made the trip to Scotland.
The visitor figures were calculated from the Office of National Statistics' international passenger survey.
Encouraging increase
It brings together data from Scottish airports, excluding Prestwick, and sea ports.
Tourism Minister Patricia Ferguson said: "This encouraging increase in visitors from Sweden is only part of a success story that has seen increasing numbers of tourists visiting from western Europe - up 25% in the first half of this year.
"In 2002, if visitors from Sweden wanted to come here, they had to fly via London.
"That year the Scottish Executive set up the Air Route Development Fund. There are now two direct flights from Sweden supported by the fund."
She said VisitScotland's marketing campaigns in Sweden were proving "increasingly successful".
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