CEO Letter August 2025: News from Next Skövde’s CEO Mats Olsson
Global Context
This summer, we continued monitoring developments in Swedish tourism and urban development. Several cities are focusing on creating more vibrant and attractive city centers through close collaboration between municipalities, businesses, and civil society. Sustainability is clearly being woven into this work, particularly through growing demand for nature experiences, activity-based tourism, and climate-smart events.
The tourism industry’s role in local and regional development is increasingly strengthening. This applies both as an engine for business growth and as a crucial factor for attracting new residents. This development aligns perfectly with Vision Skövde 2040 and our mission to create attractiveness for the city and region.
Food Festival: A Culinary Celebration
The last weekend of August traditionally hosted the Food Festival in Skövde, filling the city center with delicious food, live music, and fantastic atmosphere. A new feature this year was the Association Square – an arena where Skövde’s associations could showcase themselves and interact with visitors.
Key highlights included:
- 26 restaurateurs participated
- 27 different tents and food trucks
- Over 250 volunteers engaged
- 375 children received face painting
Award winners included Mattiasmat for best interior and overall festival prize, Den Lilla Krogen for best service, and Nennas Foodtruck for best food truck.
SM Winter Week Returns to Skövde in 2027
After evaluation by the Swedish Sports Confederation and SVT, Skövde will again host the SM Winter Week. This confirms Skövde’s capacity to deliver large-scale events. The previous SM Week in Skövde recorded:
- 100,000 total visits
- 37,500 unique visitors
- Total tourism economy of 43.6 million SEK
- Approximately 2,300 articles
- Advertising value of around 65 million SEK
- 2.3 million viewers watched at least three minutes of broadcasts
Destination Development Highlights
Billingen Forest Theater
A new forest theater project, ”Billingetrollet”, premiered in August. The performance was staged 20 times, attracting over 2,500 visitors. The playful musical theater adventure featured colorful forest characters and an important message about keeping nature clean.
New Hiking Trails
Three new hiking trails were inaugurated on Billingen this summer:
- Getaloven (13 km)
- Ramlaklevsrundan (21 km)
- Bergaklivet (19 km)
These trails, supported by a 2 million SEK project grant, offer diverse nature and cultural experiences.
Summer Square Success
Skövde’s Summer Square broke visitor records, attracting 21,700 people between June 7 and August 17 – a significant increase from previous years. Popular activities included face painting, mega chess, ping pong, and a street hockey rink.
