Trade Figures Expected to Rise

With only two months left, Sweden is gearing up for the Royal Wedding of Princess Victoria and her fiancé Daniel Westling. Thanks to the huge number of tourists expected to visit Stockholm around June 19th, the wedding will also have a considerable impact on Sweden’s economy.

The Swedish Trade Federation has published new figures showing that the positive impact on the retail industry will actually be bigger than previously expected. According to the latest calculations, shops, hotels and other service providers in the Greater Stockholm area will earn an additional 13 million dollars during the weekend of the Royal Wedding.

Speaking to Swedish Radio news, Margareta Ternell, head of the Swedish Trade Federation, pointed out that her organization had to re-calculate the figures once it became aware of the massive extent of additional wedding-related products which will be on sale in June. Previously, the Swedish Trade Federation had expected that the retail industry would see its sales volumes go up by some 4 million dollars. But 13 million seems much more realistic now, said Ternell.

The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth maintains that the wedding will almost have the same effect as a stimulus package. Translating the sales figures into jobs, one could say that the wedding will create up to 200 new full-time jobs at the labor market.

Until today, already some 24,700 hotel rooms have been booked for the wedding weekend, according to Stockholm’s visitor’s board. The city’s official tourist agency also expects half a million one-day-tourists to come to Stockholm – contributing to the massive plus for the retail industry.

So, even though the tax payer will have to cover the costs for additional security measures and the actual wedding celebrations - on the whole - the royal event will still be profitable for the entire Swedish society, analysts claim.