Sweden is tired of being confused with Switzerland

#NordicNews on destinations and Sweden

Sweden seeks clarity in international confusion with Switzerland

The confusion between Sweden and Switzerland remains widespread. Sweden has now proposed concrete steps to put an end to this problem. Visit Sweden, the national tourism organisation, is taking the matter to official level and trying to establish a clear distinction between the countries.

There is still confusion abroad about the two countries. Every year, as many as 120,000 people search online for the question: "Are Sweden and Switzerland the same?". It seems that people around the world have difficulty telling the two countries apart. Sweden is determined to end this confusion for good and has proposed concrete measures.

After decades of confusion, both Sweden and Switzerland no longer want to be confused with each other. Although both countries are in Europe and begin with "Schw", they have nothing to do with each other. Despite earlier attempts to prevent the confusion, they were not successful enough. Sweden now wants to change that.

A recent study commissioned by Visit Sweden found that 50% of US Americans cannot culturally distinguish Sweden from Switzerland. This led to curious confusions.

Visit Sweden has presented a first draft of an official agreement and it is hoped that it will be signed. Sweden is calling on Switzerland to cooperate to end the confusion once and for all.

More on Sweden and the assignment of VisitSweden.

Header: © Henrik Trygg/imagebank.sweden.se