New venture makes Sweden more accessible
Sweden Door-to-Door is being developed in cooperation between RTS, the Swedish Travel and Tourist Industry Federation, and a number of public players. Sweden Door-to-Door will be the worlds first national and neutral service to coordinate all information required for booking and purchasing trips within a country. Consequently, Swedens entire range of transportation will be accessible and available for consumers, who can plan, book and purchase for their trips on the single site.
The objective of Sweden Door-to-Door is to satisfy peoples demands for simple and efficient travel from point A to point B. All means of travel will be accessible and bookable based on personal preferences in terms of prices, travel time or mode of transport. By linking Swedens transport and tourist offerings, Sweden Door-to-Door is expected to contribute to strong growth within the travel and tourism industry, which will also generate regional development and new job opportunities.
"We have already launched a national travel planner, and we will now link our entire country for Swedish and foreign visitors. Travellers will have the possibility of travel that is sustainable, economic and simple. Capacity utilisation of Swedish infrastructure will be better and more efficient when all travel alternatives become visible," says Jan Lundin, Managing Director, Swedish Travel and Tourist Industry Federation, who is the principal and owner of Sweden Door- to-Door.
The ambition is for Sweden Door-to-Door to be available wherever consumers search for information regarding booking trips to and from selected destinations. The development of Sweden Door-to-Door will occur within the framework of RTSs operation. With the business organisation as owner, this will guarantee the neutral position between all types of transport in Sweden.
During the spring of 2008, Sweden Door-to-Door will include 80 per cent of all Swedens travel alternatives. From the beginning, all general, timetable-based modes of transport systems will be included, as well as route directions and maps. During 2009, Sweden Door-to-Door will be launched in its entirety. The vision for Sweden Door-to-Door was expressed already in 2003 in connection with the Framtidsprogram ("Future Programme")*.
"We want to make it easier for everyone to travel sustainably. In their work on the government- sponsored assignment KOLL framåt**, the Road and Rail Administrations have seen that Sweden Door-to-Door provides for many of the needs and demands of travellers, the business sector and decision-makers," says Hans Rode, Head of Development at the Swedish National Road Administration.
Sweden Door-to-Door is supported by RTS, which represents the business industry, and the National Road Administration, which represents the public players. Present at the press conference were the Minister of Infrastructure, associates from public organisations and the travel and tourism industry.
For further information, please refer to the attached fact sheet, view www.doortodoor.se or contact: Jan Lundin, Managing Director, RTS Mobile: +46 (0)70-458 27 29, or jan.lundin@rtsverige.se Anneli Sundström, Communications Director, RTS, Mobile: +46 (0)70-250 35 91, or anneli.sundstrom@rtsverige.se Hans Rode, Head of Development, National Road Administration. Mobile: +46 (0)70-633 11 00 or hans.rode@vv.se. *Strategies for growth for the travel and tourism industry in Sweden, search via www.regeringen.se. **Development of public transport. Facts about Sweden Door-to-Door Background Sweden Door-to-Door started in 2003 as a project within the Framtidsprogram (Future Programme): "Strategies for growth for the travel and tourism industry in Sweden," which was jointly produced by the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications and the travel and tourism industry.
RTS, the Swedish Travel and Tourist Industry Federation, was assigned responsibility by the industry to promote development within the area of "infrastructure." An initial travel planning system was presented in 2004 and Resrobot was subsequently started in 2006, with all travel information in Sweden collected in a single place. The travel planning system contains information on schedules for trains, buses, boats, air travel services and cars, as well as road maps.
Sweden Door-to-Door – the service During October 2007, the business industry, combined with public players, agreed to further develop the travel planning system to include all functions for Sweden Door-to-Door. The development will occur within the framework for RTS operations. The objective is to realise the vision of making Swedens transport systems - and thereby Swedens tourist offering - accessible to the general public. The travel planning service (also known as Resrobot), which is already in operation, will now be further developed to include services and functions, which will make it possible for consumers to plan, book and purchase for their entire trip in the same place.
Sweden Door-to-Door is based on information from the national database, which contains data from schedules for 80,000 bus stops, more than 200,000 journeys per day for trains, buses, 30 airlines timetables and boat services. The development of Sweden Door-to-Door will be further supplemented by transport and functions for the booking and purchase of journeys comprising all modes of transport.
Sweden Door-to-Doors ambition is to be accessible wherever consumers search for information. All players within the travel and tourism industry, municipalities and other organizations will be able to include Sweden Door-to-Door on their websites, or via mobile solutions, for booking travel to and from a selected destination. Sweden Door-to-Door is neutral, meaning, independent of modes of traffic and operators, which include all active transports in Sweden. Hela Resan AB Hela Resan AB was formed in September 2006 with business organisation RTS, the Swedish Travel and Tourist Industry Federation as the principal. RTS owns and operates Hela Resan AB, which develops the "Sweden Door-to-Door" service. With the business organisation as owner, the important neutral position is guaranteed between all types of transport in Sweden. The objective of the company, Hela Resan AB, is to be the industrys catalyst through the production of new services and functions that will contribute to growth within the tourist industry, and regional development and employment. Today, Hela Resan ABs Board of Directors comprises companies that jointly represent all aspects of a journey; transport, accommodation and experience facilities. SJ, SAS, Destination Gotland, Scandic Hotel and Strömma Turism & Sjöfart AB are members of the Board of Hela Resan AB (Sweden Door-to-Door). For more detailed information, visit www.rtsverige.se/helaresan.
About RTS, the Swedish Travel and Tourist Industry Federation RTS, the Swedish Travel and Tourist Industry Federation, is a business organisation that operates business and development projects in partnership with players from the private and public sectors. The objective is to stimulate increased entrepreneurship and enterprise to build a common market for players in the travel and tourism industry. Members of RTS include SAS, SJ, Strömma Turism & Sjöfart AB, SkiStar, Scandic Hotels, Google, The Swedish Exhibition Centre, Sveaskog Naturupplevelser, Association of Air Travel Agents (FRA Föreningen Flygresearrangörer), the Passenger Shipping Association, the Swedish Travel Industrys Service Organisation, the Swedish Golf Federation, the Swedish Bus and Coach Federation (BR), Linkon och Samtrafiken. RTSs members represent more than 1,200 companies operating within the industry. For further information, visit www.rtsverige.se.