ABBA The Museum – a top 3 destination in Sweden

Since ABBA The Museum opened its doors in Djurgården, Stockholm, on May 7, 2013, it has quickly received more than a quarter of a million visitors – the majority of them from abroad.

“We knew that we would be an interesting addition to Djurgården, among all the other great destinations that surround us. But that we would reach so many visitors in such a short time was something we never could have dreamed of”, says CEO Mattias Hansson.

ABBA The Museum has been chosen as one of top 3 destinations in Sweden by international travel agencies at the yearly Swedish Tourist Gala. The travel agencies are represented by eight of Sweden’s most important markets; China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Norway, Russia and the USA. The prize, TRIP Global Award, is initiated by the Travel and Tourism Association of Sweden.

“To top off our first year by being chosen by foreign travel agencies as one of the best experience in Sweden is just an extraordinary honor. What a fantastic premier!”, continues Mattias Hansson.

That the museum’s visitors have been pleased was also confirmed by a recently completed study by ETOUR, a tourism research organization based at the Swedish university, Mittuniversitet. More than 80 percent of those questioned who had visited the museum responded that they were interested in visiting again. The majority of these expressed an interest in returning to visit within a couple of years. A full 96 percent of visitors in the study have or will recommend ABBA The Museum to others, which is a strong indicator of their satisfaction with their visit.

Visitors to ABBA The Museum can follow the band’s remarkable career from the time its members met at the end of the 1960s to their breakthrough with the song Waterloo, major world tours and eventual break in 1982. Visitors can sing in Polar Studio, try on virtual stage costumes and experience the feeling of joining the band onstage via a hologram-like stage environment. The museum strives to make its exhibitions as interactive as possible, for example by including a self-playing piano connected to Benny Andersson’s studio. For those with a little luck, a red light will flash, and the piano (Benny) will play a live performance. Through the museum’s audio guide Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Frida reveal for the first time their personal reflections from their time with ABBA. Texts for the audio guide were created by Cathrine Johnson, playwright for the Mamma Mia! musical and film.

ABBA The Museum is located at Djurgårdsvägen 68, beside Gröna Lund on the naturally beautiful island of Djurgården in central Stockholm.

Tickets can be purchased at abbathemuseum.com and via ABBA The Museum’s ticket partner SJ, www.sj.se.