Grön korridor, minskat matsvinn och restaurangvecka

It's Monday again, which as usual means travel news here at FREEDOMtravel. We're ploughing through this week's crop of press releases and serving up concise travel news that we think might be of interest. Stay tuned!

Table of contents

M/S Birka Gotland to be upgraded for SEK 70 million

The newly established company Gotland Alandia Cruises is investing SEK 70 million in a three-week interior and exterior upgrade of the Baltic Sea's new pleasure cruiser M/S Birka Gotland. Just before the start of traffic on 20 March, spa experiences await with archipelago views, seafood buffet and the largest Swedish dance bands. Birka Gotland will cruise from Stockholm to destinations such as Mariehamn, Visby, High Coast, Ystad, Bornholm and Riga.

Viking Line creates green corridor with Ports of Stockholm and Port of Turku

On 6 February 2024, Viking Line, Ports of Stockholm and the Port of Turku have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a green shipping corridor between Stockholm and Turku. The goal is for the corridor to be completely fossil-free by 2035. The partnership will serve as an innovative platform for developing scalable solutions for phasing out fossil fuels and enabling green shipping between Stockholm and Turku. Stockholm and Turku.

KLM reduces food waste with AI

KLM is working with AI to calculate the number of meals needed on board, due to all booked passengers not showing up. A 3-month analysis shows that 63% less food has been wasted compared to before. KLM also uses AI to make aircraft maintenance smarter, to predict bad weather, to plan the best schedule and to help customers with personalised travel tips after booking.

Recreational anglers are worth billions

SEK 5.7 billion - this was the turnover of 1.2 million Swedish recreational fishermen in 2022. This in turn resulted in a contribution to Swedish GDP, gross domestic product, of around SEK 1.4 billion and increased employment by around 2,800 full-time equivalents. This is shown in a recent report from the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (HaV). Recreational fishing creates jobs, primarily in the hotel and restaurant industry, but also in the fishing tackle trade.

Nordic Museum opens its biggest ever exhibition

Nordbor is the Nordic Museum's largest ever exhibition initiative. Using 4,000 artefacts, images and archive material from the museum's extensive collections, the exhibition is a coherent narrative of life in Sweden and the Nordic region over 500 years through four seasons. After five years of preparation, the exhibition opened on 10 February.

Restaurant Week in Skövde

Soon it will be time for Skövde residents to sharpen their taste buds and embark on a journey of discovery among Skövde's restaurants. On 19-22 February, ten of the city's restaurants will offer visitors great deals and new dishes under the concept of Restaurant Week. During the week, visitors will have the opportunity to taste everything from simple street food dishes to more luxurious dinners.

Reflection of the week

Wow, that recreational fishing has such a large turnover, unbelievable! Incidentally, it is nice that several news items have a sustainability focus. Reduced waste of course also means reduced costs, but that is only good if economy and sustainability go hand in hand.

Did you miss the last travel news? Read the Camping trends and detoxifying holiday habits