Business Ambassador of the Year 2021

Justification:
"With an ambition to develop Österlen into Sweden's most attractive tourist destination, we inspire, inform and attract österlen.se visitors to our part of the world all year round."

- It's funny about prizes and awards - they don't seem so important until you're standing there as a prize winner," exclaims Noak Karlsson, the spider in the web of österlen.se.

When the business gala took place at Nordic Sea Winery in Simrishamn on Thursday evening (11 November 2021) österlen.se the price Business Ambassador of the Year, in our opinion the finest honour you can win in Simrishamn municipality!

- The award feels like a confirmation that the municipality increasingly appreciates our work," says Mr Peter Carlsson, österlen.se.

- It feels great that our work, in promoting Österlen and all the fantastic entrepreneurs, are being recognised," adds an exuberantly happy Christian Esbjörnsson, österlen.se.

- Since we started, we have gone against the grain. When all other tourism organisations in the country were focusing on marketing their destinations abroad, we were the only player to choose to focus on the Swedish market. This has been a cornerstone of our efforts, a strategy that has attracted even more interest in these times when Swedes suddenly became the only target group that had the opportunity to visit Österlen, continues Christian.

And it certainly feels like Österlen has had a bit of a renaissance in the wake of the pandemic! Rarely has Österlen attracted as many visitors as in the last few years and even online interest in Österlen increased exponentially.

- The number of visitors to our website has been breaking new records every month - without exception. Simrishamn as Sweden's most popular holiday destination on Booking, and on Google hat österlen.se more than one million views in July, says Lars Rabe, website manager at österlen.se.

- And that's not all! It's great that the influx of people to the municipality has also picked up! Many people who settle here in the municipality have come to know Österlen as tourists. But this is just the beginning, there will be more soon! reveals Noak Karlsson with a Pillemarian gaze.