While almost everyone has heard of confusion between Austria and Australia, including Austria’s famous ‘No Kangaroos in Austria’ tourism ads, it appears that Sweden is having a similar problem with Switzerland.
Accoprding to the Swedish toursim board Visit Sweden, over 120,000 people a year search online to ask “Are Sweden and Switzerland the same?” There have even been errors committed by the New York Stock Exchange and a well-known pop star. The confusion appears especially strong in the U.S. where surveys indicate as much as 50% are not sure which is which.
So, Sweden has opened negotiations with Switzerland. Visit Sweden, is reaching out to their European friend to decide who talks about what. A settlement draft between Sweden and Switzerland has been presented, but Visit Sweden is open to discussion.
“If people struggle to separate our two countries, we need to help them. We can’t change the names of our nations, but we can become more distinct. Sweden offers luxury of a different nature. That’s why we believe it’s time to decide who promotes what, and hopefully we can reach an agreement”, said Susanne Andersson, CEO Visit Sweden.
Sweden is not alone in its confusion: the African country eSwatini changed its name from Swaziland to avoid confusion.
