June saw a 10 percent increase in travellers compared to the same month in 2023. July remained the most popular month for travellers, despite a four percent drop, and August was at the same level as the year before.

A contributing factor to the difference between June and July is the calendar effect. Despite this, July was a strong month, where almost nine out of ten travellers were visitors to Gotland.

During the year up to August, a total of 1.35 million passengers travelled with Destination Gotland, which is an increase of approximately one percent compared to 2023.

- It is very nice to see that Gotland stands strong as a destination and that the number of visitors is still high. During June, the number of visitors increased by twelve percent, says Adam Jacobsson, sales and marketing manager at Destination Gotland. 

In addition, there were many families with children who discovered the island with the help of the 'Summer vacation on Gotland' campaign that Destination Gotland and Gotland's United Tourism Industry jointly arranged during the first week of July.

- Gotland is a fantastic destination with a great variety of events and activities, and we want even more people to have the chance to discover the island. We have noticed an increase in families with children among our visitors, which was one of the goals of our Summer Vacation campaign. In addition to the fact that children under the age of 18 travelled with us for free, we believe that the Marcus & Martinus concert also attracted many families with children, says Adam Jacobsson, sales and marketing manager at Destination Gotland.

During the summer, Destination Gotland has also expanded the catchment area of ??the Boat Bus with 15 new stops. The boat bus is part of Destination Gotland's long-term investment in creating alternatives to travelling by car, while increasing accessibility to Gotland for both visitors and residents. 

This year, a total of 454,006 guest nights were recorded in July, during last year the figure was 430,920 guest nights, according to the statistics from Visitory, which shows that subletting continues to increase.

The registered number of guest nights in July was 331,086 guest nights compared to 334,125 (2023). This is a decrease of 0.7 percent compared to last year - at the same time, the country as a whole has decreased by 2.1 percent. Which shows that Gotland stands strong compared to other destinations in Sweden.

At the end of September, the figures regarding the number of guest nights for August will be available, and then GFB can also sum up the entire summer period.

- It is very gratifying to see that guest nights on Gotland are increasing, and it is positive that travel to the island compares strongly with other destinations during July. Together with Destination Gotland, business and Region Gotland, we will evaluate how we can improve for next season. The collaboration with "Summer vacation on Gotland" is an excellent example of how we can develop Gotland as a year-round destination through collaboration, says Erik Öhrn, operations manager at Gotland's United Tourist Industry.

© Shippax