INDUSTRY. Åre offered beautiful early spring weather when the Scandinavian Outdoor Summit came to a close on Friday. Almost 300 participants from 15 countries and three continents gathered at Copperhill Mountain Lodge to spend two days discussing future issues for the outdoor industry.

Susanna Campbell, Investment Director of Ratos together with Mats Hedblom, former CEO, present Senior Advisor Haglöfs. Photo by Piotr Drozdz/GÓRY Mountain Magazine

Scandinavian Outdoor Summit was the first meeting of its kind in Scandinavia and targeted outdoor and sports companies, investors, retailers, researchers and innovators throughout the world. They spent two days discussing issues relating to the outdoor industry, everything from e-commerce and brand building to future tourism and climate change. The speakers included Thomas Lipke, CEO and part-owner of Germany’s Globetrotter Ausrüstung, Europe’s biggest retailer of outdoor products; Chris Doyle, Vice President of the ATTA, Adventure Travel and Trade Association USA, and Mark Held, Secretary-General of the European Outdoor Group.

Almost 300 participants from 15 countries and three continents gathered at Copperhill Mountain Lodge in Åre, Sweden, to spend two days discussing future issues for the outdoor industry. Photo by Piotr Drozdz/GÓRY Mountain Magazine

“We spend SEK 96 billion per year on outdoor activities, just within Sweden. With this forum, our aim is to get the entire outdoor industry to realise what is necessary for success in the coming years,” says Jonas Hellentin, who was responsible for the Scandinavian Outdoor Summit in partnership with Peak Innovation.

Oliver Messing, Director of Sales & Operations Europe of the American company Eagle Creek, which manufactures adventure travel gear, describes the outdoor industry as a young sector with great growth potential, and with great optimism about the future.

“It has been an interesting two days and I think this meeting will contribute to the industry’s growth. We have been able to discuss the future without seeing each other as competitors, instead we have shared our thoughts and ideas.”

It was no coincidence that Åre was chosen to host the meeting. Åre and the county of Jämtland have become central to the Scandinavian outdoor industry.

“If we had organised the Scandinavian Outdoor Summit anywhere else in the world it would have cost twice as much, been three times as difficult and only half as much fun to arrange! Businesses and helpers in the region have been incredible,” says Jonas Hellentin.

“An event like this means the world’s attention is focused on Åre and Jämtland, and that we are demonstrating that we want to be part of developing the outdoor industry of the future,” explains Tomas Ekström, Peak Innovation.

Scandinavian Outdoor Summit came to a close on Friday.

For more information visit www.outdoorsummit.se

Photo by Piotr Drozdz/GÓRY Mountain Magazine

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