In times like theseAs Corona has once again taken a firm grip on the whole country, it feels like an important opportunity to actually look back on what has been positive this strange year. A year that has really shown that Österlen has a very bright future ahead of it! When the rest of the country was hit hard by the effects of the pandemic, Österlen's attraction has become even stronger. Never before have more tourists or newcomers been attracted by Österlen's beauty and quality of life!
The year actually started reasonably normally. But already in early March, the corona situation began to make itself noticeably felt for tourism entrepreneurs in Österlen.
A crazy beautiful spring - Rarely have the fruit trees blossomed as much as this year and surely the rape fields shone more yellow than ever before - but basically completely empty in Österlen. The only thing that shone brighter than the rape fields was the lack of tourists in Österlen!
When everything felt most bleak This spring, around the beginning of April, we launched a campaign on social media to get people to move to our fantastic municipality! The basic idea was that life must be a little better in beautiful, spacious Österlen than living in a two-room apartment in a big city suburb with the metro as your best friend.
And it turned out that these thoughts in fact contained more than a grain of truth. Rarely have we seen such an influx to Österlen as in 2020. Something that has also led to a sharp rise in prices on the Österlen property market! But even though house prices have increased over the past year, it still feels like a cut compared to prices in the big cities!
A few weeks later, we launched the campaign - "Österlen package in Corona times" - where we gathered the very best corona-proof packages in the East. And the timing could hardly have been better. Despite the fact that the film was only shown on social media, and without any real marketing budget, it was seen by more than 100,000 unique visitors!
When Löfven presented the easing of travel restrictions in early June, it also marked the start of what would be perhaps the craziest summer (and autumn!) in living memory here in Österlen.
The summer weather was conducive to swimming and even though we have over eight miles of beaches down here with us, there were occasionally a lot of problems with parking at beaches such as Knäbäckshusen and Sandhammaren!
September and October were perhaps the months that really showed that Österlen's attractiveness actually increased significantly in the wake of the pandemic. Tourists and newcomers continued to flock to Österlen!
Already just before Easter When it became clear that the traditional art tour of ÖSKG was cancelled, plans were made to launch a new art event in Österlen. But then with a focus on making art more visible to everyone who visits Österlen during the high season - Österlen Summer Art Fair! For various reasons, however, we decided to jump on Thomas Wallner's idea of a high-quality art project in the autumn. What would later become known as September exhibition.
For the first year, and given that Coronan made it difficult to add peripheral activities, it must be said that the exhibition was a formidable success! The films promoting the event were seen by more than 30,000 people, and Kristianstadsbladet and our local newspaper Ystads Allehanda wrote column inches about the event. Perhaps not surprising, as the line-up of artists was probably the strongest ever in Österlen!
So despite the absence of the formidable highlight of the autumn - the Apple Market - hotels and restaurants were even more crowded than in a normal year! And from an artistic perspective, we can say that the appetite for Österlen art is stronger than ever! Already after the first weekend, audience records were broken at several of the participating galleries! Owe Gustafson, Börje Lindberg, Niels Bonde, Mats Theselius, and another 35 of Sweden's best-known contemporary artists with links to Österlen!
Following the success of this year's event, we can already reveal that there will certainly be a new edition of the event next year - the September Exhibition 2021.
And, if there will be a Summer Art Fair 2021, at the time of writing, that also seems a bit tempting! One thing is for sure: ÖSKG's art round will in any case, as usual, start the season just in time for Easter!
and we at Destination Österlen work actively both to try to maximise the high season, but above all to create new travel incentives outside the classic high season.
As we who run österlen.se without either municipal or regional money, we have put our foreheads in deep folds to find new ways to develop both our website and Österlen.
Therefore, we can now reveal that in 2021 we will add the opportunity for you as a visitor to book both rooms and packages as well as activities directly here via our website - österlen.se. With more than 500,000 unique visitors a year, it feels a little strange, to say the least, that until now we have not been able to offer you to buy something inside our store!
And yes, by skipping booking channels like booking.com and hotels.com you also support the industry here in Österlen when you book through us! With the lowest commissions on the market and where all the surplus is used to promote Österlen's golden corners, you support all companies in Österlen by booking your favourite hotel in Österlen through us.
So keep an eye on österlen.se and book your stay here with us!
Happy New Year to Noak and friends at österlen.se
