Backstage and Royal Djurgården internationally praised for development in a sustainable direction.

Backstage Hotel, together with the other stakeholders in Royal Djurgården, has once again been awarded as a destination. Royal Djurgården has now been named the winner of the 2025 Place Brand Impact Story Awards – a prestigious award that highlights brands that not only represent a place, but also actively drive its development in a sustainable direction. Behind the award is The Place Brand Observer (TPBO), a leading global knowledge hub in place branding.

Destinations around the world compete for the award, which aims to collect and disseminate insights into best practices from the leading actors. Now a Swedish destination - in the heart of Stockholm, is being honored with the award.

The jury particularly highlights the power of the strong collaboration:

"This is an impressive story of collaboration - bringing together 62 attractions to jointly highlight and convey their core values ​​within four crucial focus areas. If anyone has ever needed proof that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, Djurgården is the answer."

- Being part of the Royal Djurgården stakeholders and working together on the topic of sustainability, which is so incredibly important to us, is very rewarding. I think we inspire each other to run a world-class sustainable destination, says Satu Andersson, CEO of Cirkus Venues.

- Djurgården's journey towards a more sustainable future started back in 2016, when we chose collaboration over competition and made long-term sustainable development the core of our values. Since then, we have collaborated to develop our destination where sustainability, entertainment, culture, nature and innovation go hand in hand. It feels fantastic that what we do inspires the world, says Camilla Zedendahl, CEO of Kungliga Djurgårdens Intressenter, which drives the broad collaboration within the destination.

This award is a tribute to all the initiatives around the world that, through collaboration, sustainability and storytelling, create the destinations of the future.

Other finalists:

Little Tasmanian, (Australia) – finalist and winner of the originality category.
Barnet Zero (UK) Limerick (Ireland), Durham Region (Canada) – finalists