Camping and open-air tourism continues to grow in popularity among the Nordic countries, with new data from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth showing that the country has broken a record for overnight stays this summer. From June to August 2026, there were a total of 12,711,144 guest nights recorded on campsites in Sweden, which is an increase of around 3% compared to the same period in 2025.
This increase in camping was driven both by domestic Swedish holidaymakers, whose guest nights for the period increased 2.8% year-on-year, and also international visitors, whose guest nights increased by 3.5% for the period. The largest groups of international camping holidaymakers staying in Sweden were from Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands – with overnight stays by visitors from Norway increasing 5.3% compared to 2025.
Another positive indication for the Swedish open-air tourism industry is that camping was the most popular form of holiday accommodation for European visitors coming to the country this summer – an impressive 44% share. These statistics have been met with positive reaction from Sweden’s main camping industry body, Svensk Camping.
“This summer’s figures show that the sector’s offering continues to attract an increasing number of guests, and we expect this positive trend to continue throughout the autumn, making 2026 another record year for the sector,” said Martin Juhos, CEO of Svensk Camping. “The fact that camping is the most popular accommodation option for European visitors to Sweden in the summer gives us a strong foundation on which to build. We see great potential to attract more people to discover Sweden as a camping destination. The wide range of options plays an important role. The international markets also offer opportunities to extend the season with more guests before and after the peak summer period.”
However, Svensk Camping says that the accommodation statistics do not provide a complete picture of camping tourism because guest nights at many camping pitches are missing from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth’s data, despite the fact that a large proportion of these are publicly run.
“When parts of camping tourism are missing from the statistics, its scale and significance for destinations are underestimated,” added Martin Juhos. “Making the number of overnight stays at campsites visible would give both local authorities and businesses a better basis for investment and the development of the tourism industry”.
Svensk Camping’s own member survey does complement this new data from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, with 74.2% of its members stating they were satisfied or very satisfied with the developments in the overall camping industry during the summer of 2026.
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