Stockholm Pride 2019
Introduction
The Stockholm Pride held in 2019 was among the annual festival held in Sweden’s capital, which serves as a celebration of human rights. The event was held from July 29th to August 4th 2019, and was filled with fun, celebration, and inspiration. The event was graced by 45,000 participants and more 500,000 onlookers and served as the greatest celebration of love and dance throughout Europe. The event coincided with important anniversaries such as same-sex marriage, which marked its 10th anniversary. Besides, the event marked 75 years since the legalization of homosexuality, while the world celebrated the 50th year of pride. The major venues for the event included Clarion hotel and Pride park, both in Sweden. The Stockholm pride 2019 started with a week full of festivities having rainbow flags mounted in the Sweden capital. Therefore, the event was very impactful, with numerous implications for the hospitality industry.
Economic impact
Stockholm Pride 2019 attracted a huge number of tourists, which helped boost Sweden’s economy. The event which ran for seven days generated millions towards the local economy, which was directed towards the fight for human rights due to the society’s diversity. For instance, the weekend generated approximately $11 million, with about 19,000 visitors to the city. As such, the visitors spent the nights within the city’s accommodation facilities, which accounted for 11,000 paid nights. Based on other activities that happened during the pride 2019 event, $80 million was injected into the economy hence supporting the hospitality and tourism industry in Sweden. The Stockholm Pride 2019 served as an economic driver due to the high number of jobs created during the event. Therefore, the hospitality and tourism industry leaped big from the one-week event held in the country’s capital.
Pride 2019, held in Stockholm, led to the growth of additional trade and business development. On average, individuals attending the event spent $561on their entire stay with many of the local businesses benefiting from the annual event. Moreover, additional employees were hired for the event hence providing numerous job opportunities to the city residents. Both the participants and visitors improved key economic development aspects making the event be in a position to pay dividends for future pride concerts. Direct spending at the city’s shops, restaurants, and hotels accounted for about $5.7 million, with an additional $2 million spent on food and beverages. Besides, the entertainment sector leaped large from the event evident from the high number of clubs constructed prior to the event.
Moreover, Stockholm Pride 2019 provided financial and human resource support to Sweden’s hospitality and tourism sector. The visitors had an extended stay in Stockholm, which positively impacted the tourism sector in the country and the large European Union. Scandinavia played host to the biggest annual festival in the country, with a majority of them opting to visit nearby areas such as Gamla stan and Vasa Museum for adventurous purposes. However, pride 2019 held in Stockholm led to the closure of some businesses not affiliated with hospitality services. The city was such clouded that the owners opted to shut down their business, which they resumed duty after the end of the event. Also, the prices of goods and services rose for a period of one week, which elevated the cost of living within the city.
Social impact
Stockholm Pride 2019 resulted in shared experience among the participants, which mostly comprised of gays, trans, and queer communities in the region. The event served as an opportunity to share experiences since it was a year of milestones. Pride 2019 in Stockholm led to the Sami people opening up on their identity contrary to their conservative nature, which has been preserved since immemorial. Experiences on the impact of legalizing same-sex marriage were among the key issues discussed with many congratulating the authorities for such a bold step relative to modernity. The law was seen as the start of promoting inclusivity in Sweden, although they still exist room for progress and growth. The experiences shared proved vital in promoting tourism in the country due to the high number of calls to increase inclusivity at the societal level despite individual differences.
In addition, the pride festival ensured that the celebrations developed a long-lasting impact by expanding the country’s cultural perspectives. As such, the celebration depicted the Swedish culture as egalitarian and humble in nature. Stockholm Pride 2019 was an opportunity for the participants to showcase their cultural values despite changes in their values. The change in values has resulted in the upsurge of gays and lesbians in Sweden since the decriminalization of same-sex marriage in the country. The festival positively impacted on initiatives undertaken by lesbians, gays, bisexual, and trans (LGBTI) in their efforts to achieve desirable changes in their culture. However, other nations that have not legalized same-sex marriage saw the festival as wicked, thus developing a negative image of the Swedish community. The participants were aware of their negative towards specific nations and individuals, thus developed civic pride in their celebrations.
Besides, the pride 2019 event held in Stockholm spurred community development by increasing awareness of some of the crucial things affecting the modern Swedish society. As such, a 4.3-kilometer route run was planned to start form City Hall to Ostermalms as part of sensitizing its citizens on the importance of diversity, as evidenced in the legalization of same-sex marriage. Five hundred thousand people participated in the marching activity, which was equivalent to the population of the entire city. The individuals interacted and shared on some of the key issues affecting the modern society in Sweden due to the urgency to promote freedom. However, the marching activity disrupted the residents’ lifestyle due to the high number of people present in the city during that whole week. Citizens not participating in the event felt alienated because they did not support the theme for the event.
Environmental impact
The celebrations led to urban transformation and renewal as part of the preparations of pride 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden. The infrastructure cost to organize the special event was much lower compared to the finances accrued from the event. No loans were taken by the government to finance the project; thus, the money collected from the event was directly channeled towards developing tourism in Sweden. Therefore, the cost of new structures did exceed the revenue collected from the pride 2019 event held in Stockholm. During the event, the stakeholders ensured that aesthetic materials were the only alternative to avoid littering the environment. Therefore, the pride event did not pose negative environmental impacts since the management banned the use of toxic materials, which would end up polluting the environment leading to dire consequences.
The pride event held in Sweden last year spearheaded to increase environmental awareness through the development of a sustainability program. Despite the articulating for human rights, the Swedish pride initiated a three-year plan aimed at utilizing clean energy. As such, the group developed footprints to reduce plastic and carbon emissions, which has negatively affected the environment. For instance, the Swedish pride stipulated to reduce the use of plastics and projected its use to reduce by 30%. During the event, reusable plastics having reference dates were used and returned to be reused in the following year. Furthermore, the event banned the use of plastic straws as a way of adhering to environmental concerns in contemporary society. Such initiatives ensured that Swedish pride was environmentally conscious since it is a duty to protect the surroundings.
Moreover, the event introduced the mixed recycling bins in public places in and around the venue as a strategic approach to conserving the environment. The litter bins were clearly labeled, such as mixed waste with volunteers placed at each station to ensure the right disposition. The waste materials were later sent to recyclers to be separated and recycled, thus avoiding environmental pollution. Besides, Swedish pride collaborated with recycling partners who developed a strategic approach to managing waste before and after the event. So, pride 2019 held in Sweden developed a positive environmental impact due to its consciousness of pollution and waste management. Also, food concessions and cutlery were supposed to be compostable to reduce pollution to the environment, thus developing sustainability towards future events. Such an action plan was crucial in adhering to set standards on environmental control measures.
The implication for hospitality and future opportunities
Stockholm Pride 2019 provides positive implications to the Swedish hospitality sector due to the high number of classy hotels situated in the Swedish capital. The event is graced by both local and international guests, thus require such facilities in the city. Hospitality firms in the country leap big from such events happening in the capital; thus, the industry is poised to grow and develop. Besides, hospitality firms such as Nordic Choice Hotels in Sweden sponsor the event hence stands a chance of promoting its business globally. Hence, the hospitality industry in Sweden would diversify to provide its products and services to a wide market base. So, Swedish pride helps the hospitality sector develop memorable encounters, thus creating room for diversity. Also, the event serves as an opportunity for firms to showcase their competence required to achieve a high market position.
Moreover, the Stockholm Pride movement implies that the hospitality industry would articulate gay rights and would not subject such individuals to discrimination at workplaces. As such, the pride movement ensured that the hospitability industry in Sweden respected an individual sexual identity. Consequently, the sector would recognize gender identity and sexual orientation as an important aspect of an individual personality. So, the pride movement in Sweden is perceived as an experience to articulate concerns such as skin color in the hospitality sector to promote inclusivity. For instance, the rainbow flag implies that industries such as the hospitality sector should utilize love and tolerance while in the line of duty. The hospitality sector should, therefore, learn from the pride movement to provide the best products and services to their customers relative to environmental consciousness.
In the future, pride events should exploit opportunities provided by partnerships to achieve diversity. So, the partnerships provide an opportunity for individuals to interact to gain the required tools for advocating human rights. Also, the partnerships provide an opportunity for self-realization to help hospitality and tourism firms to achieve postulated changes needed to achieve set goals and objectives. Besides, pride events should utilize the opportunity to celebrate the contribution made by LGBT towards personal development. The opportunity serves to encourage articulate individual differences resulting from gender identity and sexual orientation. Hence, the pride events would be in a position to attract volunteers to facilitate the crucial celebrations across Europe. As such, the events would be in a position to exploit equitable resources to achieve environmental sustainability.
Conclusion
The Stockholm pride event held in 2019 served to advocate for human rights since the legalization of same-sex marriage in Sweden. The rainbow flag signifies love despite differences in gender identity and sexual orientation. The celebration’s economic impact makes it sustainable to be carried out in the future since it poses positive impacts on the hospitality and tourism sector. The annual events make a business thrive in Sweden’s capital due to the high number of customers visiting the city. The social impacts have increased interaction between the different stakeholders despite disparities in their social life. In addition, the environmental impacts show how the pride event is conscious of the wellbeing of our surroundings. Finally, the Stockholm pride event poses positive impacts on the hospitality and tourism sector; thus, a high probability of growth in the industry.
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