Swedish Lapland is Sweden’s Artic destination – and a collaborative place brand.
The destination is a collaborative place brand, designed to promote Sweden’s Arctic area to international travellers. The place brand also constitutes a collaborative platform for all the local destinations and tourism entrepreneurs in Norrbotten county and the municipalities Skellefteå and Sorsele. All operate within the joint place brand Swedish Lapland.
There are many advantages. But basically, it’s about improving our competitiveness when marketing northernmost Sweden as a destination. We compete against the rest of the world to attract the attention of the global traveller and to be seen and remembered, we need all the help we can get. As a small local destination, it’s hard to compete on an international level – that is why we work together.
Because the area is pretty much equivalent with our Finnish counterpart and neighbour who has made the name Lapland know to the world. We just added Swedish to distinguish us geographically.
To strengthen our international position, we also cooperate with our neighbouring countries under the place brand Arctic Europe. We work towards positioning us as the most accessible arctic destination together with Finnish Lapland and Northern Norway. When cooperating beyond country borders, our tourism entrepreneurs can develop and offer more unique and exciting travel experiences.
It is the Sámi name for the area traditionally inhabited by the Sámi. And a lot more than that! Sápmi stretches over four countries – Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola peninsula in Russia. In Sweden, Sápmi stretches over the northernmost half of Sweden, and most of the destination Swedish Lapland. And Arctic Europe.
Sápmi is a nation without country borders but within the area, there is a language, history and culture that ties the area together. The reindeer is intertwined with the human and nature, and the Sámi culture is rooted far back in time. The word Sápmi can loosely translate to The land of the Sámi.
Sápmi is the land and its people, nature and the reindeer. The wildlife and the light. The midnight sun and the northern lights. The warmth of the open fire on a glistening winters day and the cooling water of a mountain stream after a long days hike. Sápmi is the food and produce. But also their indigenous rights and the Sámi names. Duodji (the handicraft), fishing and the Sámi tourism. The flag and the Sámi colours. The wanderlust and respect for the surroundings. And everything in between.
Want to learn more? The best way is to visit Sámi tourism entrepreneurs – the are excellent storytellers and are happy to share their knowledge with everyone who wants to learn more about Sápmi. In Swedish Lapland, there are a number of experiences that will give you a piece of in-depth knowledge about Sápmi.
You can also visit samer.se, the Sámi information centre, for more information.
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