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Sweden sees spike in foreign tourists spending last year

Xinhua, June 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Spending by foreign visitors in Sweden soared last year, according to a report published Tuesday.

Foreigners spent a total of 96.5 billion SEK (11.68 billion U.S. dollars) in the country in 2014, a 13 percent increase on the year before, according to a report published by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth.

"Tourism is on the rise globally. More airlines are flying to Sweden and prices are dropping," the agency's Peter Terpstra told public broadcaster SVT.

"And when many seasoned travelers have already visited the larger cities in Europe, more people discover Sweden and travel here," he added.

Total spending by domestic and foreign tourists increased by 5.2 percent in 2014 to 268.5 billion SEK (32.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Sweden's revenue from tourism has surged by nearly 80 percent since 2000. Spending by foreigners, which is counted as income from exports, more than doubled during the same period, while Swedish exports as a whole grew by 66 percent.

"All signs indicate that tourism will continue to grow," Terpstra said.

In 2014, foreign spending in Sweden generated 12.4 billion SEK (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) in tax revenue. (1 U.S. dollar = 8.26 SEK) Endit