Growing crisis between Sweden and Israel has as of yet to have effect on Israeli travel to the Scandinavian country.
CEO of Israel Travel Agent Association: Sweden isn’t popular destination for Israelis. In regards to option that Israelis could cancel their trips to Sweden, Swedish embassy spokesman says to Ynet, ‘Israelis need to decide that for themselves’
How is the increasing diplomatic crisis between Israel and Sweden going to affect Israeli travel to the Scandinavian country? The crisis between the two countries has intensified since the publication in Swedish newspaper Aftenbladet claiming that IDF soldiers kill Palestinians with the intention of harvesting their organs.
Calls have been made recently for a consumer boycott against Swedish products sold in Israel, most notably from Ikea. However, it seems as though outgoing Israeli tourism to Sweden is unlikely to take a hit in any significant way.
“Sweden isn’t a popular destination amongst Israelis,” Yossi Patel, CEO of the Israel Travel Agents Association, said to Ynet. “There aren’t any direct flights and not a lot of Israeli passengers. In the summer season, people aren’t cancelling flights they booked well in advance. There isn’t any noted impact in the short term.
“This also isn’t a popular tourist destination for Israelis in the winter season. If you look at the longer term, if the current crisis will die down, someone debating in another month whether to travel to Sweden won’t take this into consideration. In another two or three months, this whole story won’t be at the forefront of his thoughts. Therefore, I don’t think this crisis will have any repercussions on travel to Sweden.”
There are no direct flights between Israel and Sweden, which makes it difficult to measure the number of Israelis traveling between the two countries. For those who do, however, a popular route is to fly on Austrian Airlines to Vienna and catch a connection flight from Vienna to Stockholm
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General Manager of Austrian Airlines in Israel Eli Messer said to Ynet that no change has been detected in the number of flights between Vienna and Stockholm by Israelis.
Dan Dovrat, a graphic media designer who works with right-wing organizations, is organizing a protest outside the Swedish Embassy in Tel Aviv. “We are not looking to boycott the entire Swedish people,” explained Dovrat in a conversation with Ynet. “We are demanding that the Swedish government dissociate itself with the claims made in the article and not use freedom of speech as a cover up for anti-Semitism.”
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