There is great concern among the traders in the Gamla Stan of Stockholm. The reason for the concern is that the ongoing corona pandemic has scared away both Swedish visitors and tourists from the shops.
Several shop owners in the Old Town describes the situation as serious.
In order to alert politicians to the serious situation, the traders in Gamla Stan demonstrated outside the Parliament House today at two o’clock.
Torun Mork Westerlund who runs a shop in Gamla Stan reported to media that, “All companies, shops, restaurants, hotels, cafes are about to crash and traders in Gamla Stan are going bankrupt.
They have absolutely no flow of people shopping. All Swedish and foreign tourists are
Vanish and no one is taking any action to this downfall.
If we go bankrupt then this will effect both the Swedish and Nordic visitors and tourist industry. All Swedish crafts, souvenir suppliers, Dalarna horses from Nusnäs, all kinds of wool production from Gotland and other places will surely go in bankruptcy with us, Even All tile production from Orytray and FormPress.
We also sell a lot of products from Lapplamd, plots from Smaland and ceramics from Öland. The list is endless and everyone face the risk to go bankrupt with us.
It is from them we all buy the goods we sell in the famous tourist attraction Gamla Stan. There are an incredible number of people living on the fact that we are entrepreneurs in the Old Town, one
such a small area that plays such a big role for the entire Swedish hospitality industry.
All of Sweden’s tourism is in jeopardy, in fact the whole of the Nordic countries will suffer.
Stockholm, which is known as the Venice of the Nordic Region, attracts tourists to the Nordic countries and the Gamla Stan is the tourist hub in Stockholm”
He further says :”Gamla Stan is THE MAGNET for tourism in the Nordic countries. Many Gamla Stan base companies even exports there products to all Nordic Countries.
The result of this is absolutely devastating. Gamla stan that draws tourists to Stockholm,
to Sweden – all tourists go to the Gamla Stan – before moving on to other places in Sweden
and the North. In Gamla Stan many products are sold from the rest of Sweden. We are all
entrepreneurs, who make it vibrant and interesting. If we go bankrupt than so will the attraction of Gamla Stan.
It may be that we have to lie low and go low, but that will be some time later
corona crisis and then there must be an Gamla Stan that can be brought back to life. We can not
let it die completely. It will cost Sweden and the whole of the Nordic countries tremendously to let us go over”
This report is to support the voice of traders in Gamla stan to reach the authorities, so that they can give this thought a serious priority, and help them save Gamla Stan.