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Forbes Lifestyle Travel New Study Shows That 50% Of Americans Mix Up Sweden And Switzerland Kaitlyn McInnis Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover luxury travel—from takeoff to touchdown and everything in between. Following Oct 26, 2023, 07:51am EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Stockholm old town city skyline getty If you struggle to differentiate Sweden and Switzerland—you’re not alone. A recent study commissioned by Visit Sweden has found that an incredible 50 percent of respondents in the United States are not entirely sure they could decipher the differences between Swedish and Swiss culture. It gets worse. In the last year alone, there were over 85,000 Google searches originating from the United States asking, “Are Sweden and Switzerland the same?” according to data from MyTelescope. Sweden (not Switzerland) campaign Henrik Trygg/Visit Sweden “If people struggle to separate our two countries, we need to help them. We can’t change the names of our nations, but we can become more distinct,” explained Susanne Andersson, CEO at Visit Sweden, in a press release. “Switzerland is often referred to as the pinnacle of luxury—however, Sweden offers luxury of a different nature, and these differences, in all of their beauty, are what we want to showcase.” The cultural associations and tourist attractions in Sweden and Switzerland greatly overlapped within the responses as well. More than 80% of respondents associated both Sweden and Switzerland with mountaintops—but less than 20% mentioned the Swedish coastline which stretches almost 2,000 miles. Some respondents even associated the Northern Lights with Switzerland despite the fact that it’s a regularly occurring phenomenon in Sweden. MORE FOR YOU Leak Reveals Joe Biden Could Be About To Issue A Game-Changing Executive Order That Could Spark Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP And Crypto Price Chaos Multiple People Dead And Dozens Wounded In Mass Shootings In Maine Suspect Still At Large What We Know About Robert Card The Person Of Interest In The Maine Mass Shootings As a result, the “Sweden (not Switzerland)” campaign aims to end the confusion among American and international travelers once and for all. Despite the fact that both European countries begin with “Sw” they’re completely distinct and offer very different attractions and cultural experiences. The campaign wants to make sure travelers know actually why they’re traveling to Sweden—not Switzerland—and to avoid mix-ups in the future. “We will be able to celebrate attributes like sandbanks, rooftops and silence,” says Andersson. “Meanwhile Switzerland will focus on banks, mountain tops and yodeling.” Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website . Kaitlyn McInnis Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions
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