Environment and Planning A 2003, volume 35, pages 1751 ^ 1768

DOI:10.1068/a35315

Personal mobility: a corporeal dimension of transnationalisation.

The case of long-distance travel from Sweden

Lotta FrÌndberg, Bertil Vilhelmson

Department of Human and Economic Geography, GÎteborg University, PO Box 630,
SE 405 30 GÎteborg, Sweden; e-mail: [Link]@[Link],
[Link]@[Link]
Received 13 December 2002; in revised form 20 March 2003

Abstract. Mobility is a key concept within recent social theorising on globalisation, transnationalisa-
tion of social relations, and new divisions of society. Mobility growth is also central to issues of global
warming and the need for sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to elucidate empirically
some properties of recent developments in international mobility. A theoretically informed under-
standing of changing patterns of long-distance travel is briefly outlined. This understanding is
confronted with empirical findings concerning the actual development of international travel from
Sweden during the 1990s. The findings confirm expected trends of further increasing intensity,
extensity, and velocity in long-distance mobility. A tendency towards globalisation is observed, though
an intraregional transnationalisation is the dominant process at work. It is concluded that an
increasing short-term flexibilisation in people's use of time and space is a more important driving
force behind the transnationalisation of mobility, than is the geographical extension of more enduring
social relations. Influencing factors behind the social division of mobility are addressed by identifying
the hypermobile segment of the population. Implications for the wider issues of globalisation and
environmental sustainability are discussed.

1 Introduction
1.1 Background
The spatial transformations of modernising societies during the past century involved
radically increased levels of personal mobility. The networks and activity patterns of
individuals and organisations were stretched out in geographical terms. This develop-
ment was observed as a continuous trend towards increasing speeds and longer travel
distances for all kinds of purposes at the local and regional levels. In the past few
decades, the persistence of this trend was partly driven by the emergence, on a mass
scale, of travel beyond national borders. The number of international journeys con-
ducted each yearöas reflected in the statistics of international tourismöhas tripled
since the beginning of the 1970s, and is now almost 700 million (WTO, 2000). A small
but steadily growing share of these trips is truly global in the sense that it involves
interregional or transcontinental movements. According to the predictions and busi-
ness-as-usual scenarios of future travel demand, the trend towards increasing speeds
and travel distances is generally expected to continue (for example, Schafer and Victor
1997; 2000).(1)

(1) It should be noted that growth in international air travel was disrupted in the autumn of 2001. A

weakening trend had been noticed earlier, but the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New
York in September caused a large drop in air travel in many parts of the world. For example,
Swedish domestic and international air travel dropped by about 15% immediately after the attack.
In the first half of 2002 the number of passengers on international flights to and from Sweden was
10% lower than in the corresponding period in the previous year (Swedish Civil Aviation Admin-
istration, 2002). This downturn should be related to the more than 60% increase in international
air traffic to and from Sweden between 1994 and 2000.
1752 L FrÌndberg, B Vilhelmson

This development is an integral aspect of transformations implied by the ambiguous

notion of globalisation. Physical mobility, together with the consumption of media and
virtual communication, are the means by which internationally and globally extended
social organisations, networks, and relationships are constituted and reproduced (see,
for example, Dicken, 1998; Ha«gerstrand, 1992; Wellman, 1999). Economic, political, social,
and cultural globalisation all seem to involve a continually extended practice of long-
distance physical mobility. Consequently, mobility is in focus (as is virtual means of
communication) in much of recent social theorising (for example, Bauman, 2000;
Castells, 1996; Urry, 2000).
Compared with the global flows of information and symbols, however, physical
mobility is restricted by the fact that it requires substantial amounts of time and money
on the one hand, and energy, ecological services, and environmental space on the other
(for example, Ha«gerstrand, 1992). Although international travel has become much
more accessible, faster, and affordable to more people in recent decades, it still involves
what most people perceive as considerable direct costs. Absence from the obligations
of everyday life, moreover, must be socially and institutionally sanctioned. To this
add substantial indirect costs. The steadily increasing use of fossil fuels to move people
and goods across space has rendered transport a prominent and recurrent theme in
debates concerning global warming and sustainable development. In this context, the
rapid growth in volumes and longer travel distances in international mobility have
been emphasised and contested in a number of recent works (Ðkerman et al, 2000;
Carlsson-Kanyama and Lindën, 1999; EEA, 2001; Fra«ndberg, 1998; HÖyer, 2000). The
fact that international mobility is dominated by air transport makes it particularly
problematic, both because of the relatively high-energy intensity of air travel and
because emissions at high altitudes are believed to result in additional climate forcing
(IPCC, 1999). Moreover, rapidly increasing volumes of air travel lead to congestion of
a physically limited air space, as well as overexploitation of many ecologically sensitive
tourist destinations. In sum, the globalisation of mobility involves an extension of the
environmental space occupied by the relatively wealthy groups of high-consumption
societiesöboth in terms of an increased combustion of fossil fuels for transportation,
and of new and successively more distant places being used or occupied for their
purposes.
1.2 Purpose
The problems associated with a continued growth in intensity and extensity of inter-
national travel, and questions concerning the social and environmental bases of such
developments, motivate a closer examination of the current extent, structure, and
dominating trends of long-distance personal mobility. What suppositions might be
made on these matters from current theories of transnationalisation, globalisation,
and people's changing use of time and space in late-modern societies? And to what
extent do such theoretically informed understandings correspond with empirical
evidence of present trends and actual travel behaviour?
In this paper we investigate empirically the development of international mobility
among Swedes during the second half of the 1990s. A central issue concerns the
present changes in the time ^ spatial extension of personal mobility. A second main
issue relates to existing differences (or divides) in the extent or frequency of interna-
tional mobility between individuals and groups in the Swedish population. A third
issue deals with the structure of activities motivating international travel, for example,
business, tourism, visiting, and the flexibility (or boundedness) in space and time of
different activities.
Long-distance travel from Sweden 1753

Our approach is partly motivated by a general lack of comprehensive empirical

descriptions and analyses of international mobility patterns (Graham, 2000; Potier,
2000). Most travel surveys are focused on people's daily travel within the borders of
a country, a region, or a city and pay limited attention to border-crossing travel
activities. When international travel is surveyed, seldom are all types of travel (regard-
ing mode, purpose, and destination) and all kinds of travellers (including nontravellers)
investigated. One significant reason for the relative lack of knowledge in this area is
that daily, local, and regional mobility by car still by far dominates personal mobility
as a whole. The power of territorial boundaries in structuring the production of
knowledge of society is probably also a relevant explanation (Beck, 2000; Ha«kli,
2001). A perhaps less obvious reason is that the requirements on survey design and
data collection aimed at attaining rich descriptions of international travel patterns are
somewhat different from those focusing on daily mobility.
Our empirical data are confined to the development of international travel from
Sweden. This may limit the significance of our analysis in relation to the more general
development of international mobility. However, it can be argued that current Swedish
society in several important respects mirrors, or even epitomizes, the processes of
extending spatial connections, networks, and cultures understood as typical for most
late-modern societies (Castells, 1996; Held et al, 1999). The Swedish economy is highly
internationalised as regards trade, employment, and ownership (Alvstam et al, 1993).
Furthermore, the political system is gradually developing beyond the borders of the
national within the framework of the European Union. Also, though Sweden has no
evident colonial past, there is nowadays a comparatively large immigrant population
(18% foreign-born or aliens of the total population), contrasting the situation during
the first part of the last century, when a large number of emigrants left the country. The
general level of welfare (as regards, for instance, income and time resources) has meant
long-established lifestyles among large groups, in which tourism and travel are signifi-
cant pointers. Taken together, this means that many spheres of life are increasingly
expected to involve international networks and contacts through corporeal mobility as
well as through virtual communication.
1.3 Outline
The structure of the paper is as follows. In section 2, some relevant concept and theories
are used to generate a set of explicit statements and questions concerning the expected
structure and predominant trends of international mobility. The discussion focuses on a
number of processes, which act both as driving forces and as consequences of the
changing patterns of long-distance travel. They concern: (1) the ongoing globalisation
and transnationalisation of social relations and spaces; (2) increases in the accessibility
of distant places because of time ^ space compression; (3) the flexibilisation of time
use and the role of leisure time; and (4) the social division of spatial mobility. Our
theoretically informed understanding is, in section 4, confronted with findings of a
study of international mobility among Swedes in the second half of the 1990s. Before
that, section 3 introduces the datasets used. Data contain six years of repeated surveys
of the long-distance and international travel of representative samples of the Swedish
population. In the final section, implications of the main findings for the wider issues
concerning the future development of international mobility are discussed.

2 Theoretical reflections
2.1 Globalisation and transnationalisation of social relations
In our view, changing mobility patterns should be understood as integral aspects of trans-
formations in individuals' and organisations' use of time and space (Vilhelmson, 1999).
1754 L FrÌndberg, B Vilhelmson

In the context of long-distance travel, globalisation is undoubtedly a key notion

capturing dominant trends of such transformations. Clearly, this is also a concept
that has been used so widely in so many different contexts that its signification has
become highly ambiguous. In a commendable attempt to contribute analytical clarity
to the academic debate and study of globalisation, Held et al (1999) suggest a useful
definition:
``... globalization can be thought of as a process (or set of processes) which embodies
a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactionsö
assessed in terms of their extensity, intensity, velocity and impactögenerating
transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity, interaction, and
the exercise of power'' (page 16).
Personal mobility is here represented as a form of flow generated by transforma-
tions in sociospatial organisation. Clearly, as is the case for other forms of flows, the
movement of people across space and time is also an integral aspect of the processes
that bring about spatial transformation in the first place. What is important in this
context is that growth in long-distance mobility is understood as directly related to
spatial stretching of social relations over very large distances.
Unlike many others' use of this concept, Held et al confine the meaning of global-
isation to the development of interregional and/or transcontinental relations, flows,
networks, etc. This is valuable as it promotes clarity. However, much of the current
spatial stretching of social relations beyond national borders does not involve linkages
spanning different macroregions or continents (Dicken, 1998; Giddens, 1990; Hannerz,
1996). As our concern is with the development of long-distance international mobility
as a whole, the definition of globalisation above leaves us with a need for a comple-
mentary concept covering corresponding transformations at lower spatial scales. For
this purpose, we will rely on the term transnationalisation to denote this wider process
of sociospatial transformation generating flows and networks transcending national
borders.(2)
As part of a break with the unreflecting assumption of the nation-state as container
of social processes (Beck, 2000; Urry, 2000), interest has increasingly been paid to
various effects or aspects of transnationalisation, such as the phenomena of transna-
tionalism and/or the emergence of transnational social spaces. These concepts refer to
various forms of community formation and lifestyles across or regardless of nation-
state borders. (for example, Basch et al, 1994; Ong, 1999; Portes, 2001; Pries, 2001).(3)
So far, research in this area concerns mainly either transnational migrant communities
or global professional elites of various kinds (for an overview, see Gustafson, 2002).
What distinguishes these phenomena from transnational social practices in general is
the intensity and degree of institutionalisation of interaction (Pries, 2001). `Transmi-
grants', for example, are immigrants who develop and maintain multiple relations that
span national bordersöoften through moving back and forth between places in different
nation-states (Basch et al, 1994; Pries, 2001). Although the quantitative significance of,
for example, immigrant transnationalism may be disputed (Portes, 2001), the growing

(2) There is no generally agreed definition of the term `transnationalisation'. Often, the notion

of transnational (relations, activities, organisations, associations, etc) is used as complementary to

that of international (relations, etc) to make the point that the activities or linkages in question
do not involve nation-states as corporate actors (Hannertz, 1996; Held et al, 1999; Portes, 2001).
(3) The precise meaning of `transnationalism' is also contested, however, primarily with respect to the

question of whether `transnationalism from above' in the form of cross-border initiatives of govern-
ments and corporations, should be excluded and the term instead reserved for `transnationalism
from below' in the form of transnational activities of immigrants and grass-roots entrepreneurs
(Portes, 2001).
Long-distance travel from Sweden 1755

transnational flows (of people, artefacts, and symbols) and the interactive possibilities
currently offered by new communication and transportation technologies, are generally
assumed to imply that transnationalism and transnational social spaces are becoming
increasingly prevalent and significant phenomena (Hannerz, 1996; Pries, 2001).
The general understanding of an ongoing transnationalisation and globalisation of
social relations thus suggests that professional and private social networks are increas-
ingly being stretched out geographically across national borders. For some individuals
and groups this transformation has come to imply living in largely transnational
communities. On the empirical level concerning personal mobility, one should therefore
expect a substantial growth in international business travel and in international visits
of friends and relativesö perhaps also at the expense of local and intraregional travel of
this kind. The basic empirical questions to be further explored concern how fast,
to what extent, where, how often, and by whom.
2.2 Increased accessibility and time ^ space compression
The transformations discussed are fundamentally connected to, and dependent upon,
changing conditions for long-distance travel. Technological, infrastructural, and orga-
nisational developments of air transport in the postwar period have gradually
increased the accessibility, in terms of time and cost, of faraway places (Graham,
1995; Janelle, 1969). Whereas disposable incomes in Western Europe and the United
States have increased substantially in this period, airfares, measured in real terms, have
decreased (Kru«ger Nielsen, 2001). The latest development in this direction is the
emergence in Europe of low-cost carriers offering radically reduced airfares on an
increasing number of connections.
A general trend towards lower monetary costs per kilometre travelled affects the
accessibility of faraway places relatively more than it affects the accessibility of places
nearby. In practice, the economy of air transportation also has an immanent preference
for longer distances. A large share of operating costs are connected to takeoff and
landings; therefore, the longer the flight, the lower the cost per flight-km (Hanlon,
1996, Kru«ger Nielsen, 2001). This means that airfares are lower for intercontinental
flights (counted per revenue passenger-km) compared with international flights in
general (Kru«ger Nielsen, 2001). Moreover, as transportation costs decrease, other costs
related to travel, such as housing or food, increase in relative importance. The implica-
tion of this kind of time ^ space compression is thus not only that faraway places are
now more easily reached or communicated with compared with earlier periods, but,
more important, that physical distance as such becomes less significant for deciding
where to go, where to live, and whom to cooperate with (Harvey, 1990).
Drawing on theories of time ^ space compression one should expect not only a
general increase in long-distance mobility, international and global, but also a more
rapid growth in the longest trips compared with shorter ones. Accordingly, the actual
frequency of international travel should steadily grow more rapidly than the frequency
of domestic travel, and the highest rates of growth should be found among the longest
international trips. If trends such as these dominate the long-term development of a
population's travel patterns, one may speak of transnationalisation and globalisation of
mobility. As a direct consequence of such expected developments, international mobility
should also constitute a rapidly increasing share of total passenger-km travelled among the
population. It is also expected that international mobility, measured in passenger-km,
is rapidly shifting towards an increasing share of air transport.
Besides the geographical extension of social relations, routines, and obligations of
everyday life, discussed above, there is the large segment of more spatially unbounded
leisure tourism and free-time travel, which is also central for understanding the spatial
1756 L FrÌndberg, B Vilhelmson

dynamics of long-distance travel. The declining cost of long-distance travel is combined

with the travel industry's ever-increasing provision of exotic and new, often more
distant, places to visit. The globalisation of mobility is therefore to a certain extent
the geographical outcome of leisure tourism constituted as a ``cultural economy of
authenticity, timelessness and exclusivity'' (Lo«fgren, 1999, page 184). Central to this
use of space and place are the ongoing shifts in people's use of time.
2.3 Flexibilisation of time use and wealth or shortage of leisure time
As mentioned previously, long-distance travel is not restricted only by economic
circumstances, but also by the limited availability of time windows in which absence
from daily obligations is socially and institutionally sanctioned. The development of
long-distance mobility is therefore not only connected to changing spatial relations but
also to changes in the use of time among a population (Richards, 1998).
In most Western countries, an increasing number of people face fewer time ^ space
constraints than in the past (Gershuny, 2000). They can more deliberately decide when
(what time of the year), for how long, and how often they will travel to destinations
and activities far away from home. Two groups are important in this respect: a large and
growing number of healthy retirees, and young adults, many of who spend several years
studying and doing various forms of short-term work before settling down. Symbolic
workers and others who do most or all of their work by means of information
and communication technologiesölong-distance telecommutersöalso belong to this
growing group of time ^ spatially flexible people. Thus, the removal, for large groups,
of restrictions related to presence availability works together with time ^ space compression
to produce an increasing flexibility in time and space. At a general level, this flexibility
can be expected to reinforce the growth in international mobility. Furthermore, economic
restructuring and a general trend towards more flexible production systems are often
claimed to lead to an increasing differentiation and social desynchronisation of time ^
space trajectories, including the temporal rhythms of work and leisure (Glennie and
Thrift, 1996; Sennett, 1999; Urry, 1994). As working hours become less standardised
and regulated, and more people are employed on short-term contracts, this develop-
ment should also apply to the longer periods of leisure time (traditionally) needed for
international travel. In other words, holidays may increasingly (have to) be taken
outside of the traditional summer season.
This increased desynchronisation and temporal flexibility in society is thoroughly
integrated with the spatial flexibility resulting from time ^ space compression. High-
speed means of travel bring desired `seasons' within reach at any time of the year.
Taken together, these developments should, among other things, imply an observable
trend away from distinct seasons in international leisure travel.
At the beginning of the 1990s a general trend of decreasing average time spent away
on international journeys was observed both in the United States and in Europe
(Richards, 1998). Some commentators connect this trend to an increased time shortage
among the gainfully employed segment of the population, and emphasise its signifi-
cance for the future development of the tourist industry, with a mounting demand for
brief and efficient vacationing to be expected in the near future (WTO, 1999). However,
relevant explanations for this general trend probably differ among countries with
different economies of holiday time (Richards, 1998). In comparatively `time-rich'
countries, such as Sweden, a trend of decreasing time spent away is more likely to
result from a tendency among wealthier groups to add one or two trips of shorter
duration to their previous pattern of international mobility (Richards, 1998) rather
than from a general shortening of the annual holiday abroad. This tendency towards
breaking up holidays over time (and space) may be further promoted by the breaking
Long-distance travel from Sweden 1757

up of seasonal patterns of long-distance travel already discussed. It may also be

reinforced by the increasing availability of very inexpensive short-stay international
trips by air. We may therefore expect to find a decreasing trend in average time spent
away on international journeys, even when shortage of holiday time is not a major
concern. This would partly contradict the trend towards globalisation of mobility
discussed above.
Another crucial aspect of changing working conditions and of time flexibilisation is
a trend away from working time as clearly separated from nonworking time (Sennett,
1999). This is not least relevant in the area of long-distance travel, which often involves
a stay away from home lasting several days. Clearly, in some forms of work-related
travel (for example, trips to conferences or trade fairs), leisure time and activities may
be as important and time consuming as are elements of work (HÖyer and N×ss, 2001).
As time and space flexibilisation increases, a further trend towards integration and
combination of work and leisure travel could be expected.
2.4 The social division of mobility: the emergence of global nomads
A critical aspect of globalisation and transnationalisation of long-distance travel is the
social distribution and division of populations into more mobile or less mobile (or
well-connected) groups. Several social theorists consider access to global mobility a
top-ranking stratifying factor (see, for example, Albrow, 1997; Bauman, 1998; Castells,
1996; Urry, 2000) and anticipate the formation of a highly mobile elite (`global
nomads'; `half humans, half flows') more or less constantly on the move. Members of
this group could be regarded as the forerunners of a traditional innovation-diffusion
process (of global travel, in this case) or trendsetters regarding societal norms of where,
when, and how often one wishes to, or must, travel far away. The mobile elite is well
connected to global networks, arguably at the expense of their sense of local (or even
national) and place-bounded identity, trust, and community (Putnam, 2000; Wellman,
1999). Meanwhile most people stay local in the sense that they do not travel outside
their country on a regular basis.
Access to global communications and transportation networks obviously varies
among different segments of the population (as well as between countries and regions).
This is a crucial fact from a welfare perspective of equity and obviously, then, could be
regarded as a driving force of present and future expansion. This discussion leads to
the following concrete propositions for empirical examination: It is expected that a
distinct group ö a `global elite' ö well connected to international economic and social
networks, conducts a large share of international mobility and travel. The question is
whether this group of high-frequency long-distance travellers is at all discernible in
a national context. If so, how large is it, and what factors distinguish this group from
the rest of the population? The same question could be applied to the other side of the
mobility divide: If most people are `local' in the sense that they do not at all, or only
very rarely, travel internationally, what are the actual characteristics of low-frequency
travellers and nontravellers among the population?

3 Method and data

In order to explore the propositions raised we have used datasets from six years of
consecutive national travel surveys conducted in Sweden, in this case data on long-
distance and border-crossing journeys. It is very difficult to produce reasonably complete
and detailed accounts of international travel and other trans-boundary interactions of
a given population (Potier, 2000). One is often obliged to use data from transport and
travel businesses or public authorities responsible for key sectors, such as civil aviation
or railway systems. Such data sources are generally confined to certain modes of transport
1758 L FrÌndberg, B Vilhelmson

(for example, ferries, rail, or air) and lack information about the individual traveller and
his or her trip. Surveys of international travellers, on the other hand, often focus on
certain target groups, such as tourists or business travellers. Most studies are limited to
a certain cross-section in time.
Hence, for the purpose of the present study, a unique set of data describing the
extent and extensity of international mobility among the Swedish population for a
period of six years has been used. The data consist of two successive national travel
surveys (called the RiksRVU94-98 and RES99-00) with a representative sample popula-
tion of about 10 000 Swedes each year. The surveys, together covering the period
1994 ^ 2000, were carried out by Statistics Sweden (SCB) on commission from the
Swedish Institute for Transport and Communication Analysis (SIKA). All results pre-
sented in this paper are based on independent computations by the authorsöincluding
complements, adaptations, and corrections of data.
The population under investigation comprises individuals aged 6 to 84 years,
registered in Sweden, and their journeys. Data collection was carried out by means
of telephone interviews (respondents first received an introductory letter), with a
representative sample of between 8000 and 12 400 individuals each year. The response
rates were 78% in 1994 and 1995, 76% in 1996, 1997, and 1998, then 71% in 1999 and
72% in 2000. The questions asked concern the actual journeys taken, as well as socio-
demographic and transport-related information about the respondent and his or her
household. The respondents were asked to give a full account of all trips conducted
during one day, selected in advance, and of all journeys of at least 100 km one way,
conducted during a two-month period preceding the interview. Data of this latter kind,
defined here as long-distance travel, constitute the empirical basis for the present study.
In the surveys, journeys beyond the Swedish national borders were included and
registered on the same conditions as trips within Sweden. However, because of the
definitions used, international trips shorter than 100 km one way are not included in
results concerning international mobility presented below. Such short-distance interna-
tional trips represent about one fifth of all international trips undertaken by Swedes
(corresponding to between 2 and 3 million trips per year) (Fra«ndberg and Vilhelmson,
2002).
Because international travel is a relatively infrequent event in the life of the average
Swede, a two-month reference period is inadequate for a meaningful estimation of
the variation in international travel frequency within the population. However, since the
start of the second survey in 1999, a question concerning the number of long-distance
international trips conducted during the preceding one-year period was introduced.
Data generated by this question have been used for the analysis of differences in
international mobility between individuals and groups within the Swedish population.
Because these data are confined to 1999 and 2000, no results concerning changes in the
distribution of international mobility within the population will be presented.

4 Results
4.1 Changes in the time ^ spatial extension of long-distance mobility among Swedes
4.1.1 Spatial aspects
In line with the general conceptions of transnationalisation and globalisation and
increasing time ^ space compression, international travel increased substantially among
Swedes during the period 1994 ^ 2000. From a total of 7 million in 1994, the number of
international journeys reached 9.5 million in 2000. Although domestic long-distance
travel also increased, growth in international travel was more rapid in relative terms
(see table 1). Accordingly, the share of international mobility of the entire long-distance
travel frequency increased from 11% in 1994 to 14% in 2000.
Long-distance travel from Sweden 1759

Table 1. Spatial aspects of long-distance mobility among the Swedish population, 1994 ^ 2000.
Number of Relative change Travel Relative change
trips 2000 1994 ± 2000 (%) distance 2000 1994 ± 2000 (%)
(millions) (109 km)
Domestic long-distance 59 7 26 6
trips
International long- 9.5 36 33 64
distance trips
to Northern and 6.5 20
Central Europe
to Southern Europe 2 48
to rest of the world 1 148

Also, when the geographical extension of international travel is considered, a

consistent pattern of higher relative rates of growth with longer travel distances is
found (see table 1). Although trips outside Europe still represent only about 10% of
all international journeys made by Swedes, their importance is growing very fast. Such
trips more than doubled in the short period under study.
International mobility among the Swedish population thus increased in both inten-
sity and extensity during the period. Taken together, these developments imply a rapid
increase in total distances travelled. Annual passenger-km in international mobility
increased by more than 60% between 1994 and 2000. Whereas in the mid-1990s long-
distance mobility was still dominated by domestic travel, this relation was inverted by
2000, with international travel now representing 56% of long-distance mobility (in
terms of total passenger-km) as a whole. The total distance travelled internationally
(33 billion km) in 2000 is equivalent to an average of 10 km per person per day. This
figure may be compared with the average domestic travel distance of 40 km per day
(including all short-distance daily mobility as well as long-distance travel) (Vilhelmson,
1997). Evidently, international travel now represents a substantial share of overall
mobility among the Swedish population.
These findings are clearly in line with the transformations of spatial relations
related to a continued time ^ space compression, transnationalisation, and globalisa-
tion as described in our theoretical discussion above. It is important to note that,
although the pattern of geographical extension involves globalisation as one important
element, the large majority of international travel as well as the largest share of growth
in international mobility, is intraregional.
4.1.2 Temporal aspects
As outlined in the section about time flexibilisation (section 2.3), a gradual levelling out
of distinct seasons in the annual cycle of long-distance mobility can be expected. The
geographical extension of travel observed during the period reinforces such expecta-
tions, because the increased spatial flexibility implies access to desired seasons all year
round. However, our travel survey data show a stable pattern of seasonal distribution
of international travel. No statistically significant changes in the distribution between
the summer and winter seasons are observed during the period 1994 ^ 2000. It could be
argued that this period is too short to capture gradual changes of this sort. However, a
comparison with data from a national travel survey conducted in 1978 shows that the
seasonal distribution has not changed even since then.
Similarly, an expected trend towards shorter average duration of international trips
cannot be confirmed by the data at hand. Journeys of short duration (1 ^ 3 days) have
increased as much, in relative terms, as those of longer duration (7 ^ 10 days). Thus, the
1760 L FrÌndberg, B Vilhelmson

expected changes in the timing and duration of international travel related to processes
such as the flexibilisation of time use, the increased scarcity of leisure time, and the
desynchronisation of time ^ space trajectories have not occurred so far.
One possible explanation for these discrepancies is that the transformations of time
use that are much discussed and theoretically elaborated upon are relevant only for
certain, quite small, groups within the population. Changes might therefore have only
marginal impact on aggregate measures of travel behaviour. In a quite different con-
text, it has been shown that the notion of working-time flexibilisation is largely a
mythöthe actual proportion of the population affected by such changes has been
marginal (Breedveld, 1998; Gershuny, 2000).
4.1.3 Speed and the importance of air transport
Directly related to the rapid growth of very long journeys is an increasing use of air
transport for international travel. The number of international trips by air increased
from about 3 million in 1994 to 4.5 million in 2000. This development implies that
long-distance mobility in general, and international mobility in particular, had further
shifted towards air transport during the study period (see table 2). Although only 10%
of all long-distance trips (domestic and international) are made by air, air travel
represents 50% of the total distance travelled in 2000. For international journeys
(exceeding 100 km), air transport is the single most important transport mode. Almost
half of these trips were made by air in 2000, representing over 80% of the distance
travelled. According to these estimates, Swedes on average travelled approximately
3000 km by air in 2000.
Table 2. Changing role of air transport in long-distance travel, Swedish population, 1994 and
2000.

1994 2000

Air transport's share (%)

of long-distance trips 9 10
of passenger-km in long-distance trips 42 51
of long-distance international trips 41 47
of passenger-km in long-distance international trips 77 82

It can thus be concluded that long-distance mobility among the Swedish population
was further transnationalised and globalised in the latter half of the 1990s, and that this
development also involved a continued shift towards high-speed travel in the form of air
transport. However, the changing pattern of international mobility did not involve any
observable changes in terms of the average duration or seasonal timing of international
trips.
4.2 Activities motivating international mobility
As was discussed above, a large-scale transnationalisation of social spaces would imply
a growing number of international trips related to work, to visits to friends and
relatives, and perhaps even to more conventional everyday activities such as shopping
and entertainment. Furthermore, with decreasing costs of movement and an increasing
supply of new and distant places to visit, the more traditional forms of international
leisure travelösuch as package tours and other kinds of holiday travel öcan also be
expected to grow.
International mobility among the Swedish population is largely leisure related.
Three quarters of all international journeys in 2000 were constituted by `visits to friends
Long-distance travel from Sweden 1761

Table 3. International trips (exceeding 100 km) distributed on main purpose of travel, Swedish
population, 1994/95 and 1999/2000.

Number of trips 2000 Relative change

1994/1995 ± 1999/2000 (%)
millions %

Business travel 2.1 22 15

Visits to friends and relatives 1.0 10  20
Holidaya 5.0 52
33
Other leisure 1.0 10
All 9.6 100 28
a Holiday was included in the category `other leisure' in the 1994 ± 1998 surveys.

and relatives', `holidays', and trips related to `other leisure' activities (see table 3).
`Holiday' is the single most important purpose of travel for international trips exceeding
100 km. The combined category `holiday' and `other leisure' travel is not only the most
important travel purpose in terms of numbers, but it is also the segment that increased
most rapidly during the study period. International travel for visiting family and friends
and for business purposes also increased, though more slowly.
Questions concerning the various driving forces behind a geographical extension of
personal mobility render the relation between travel distance and purpose of travel
particularly interesting. In table 4 the distribution of main purposes of travelöbusiness,
visiting friends and family, holiday, shopping, other leisure, etcöis given for domestic
long-distance trips and international trips (the latter divided into two subgroups
representing approximately the same volumes of trips: long-distance and very long-
distance). In order to take into account the fact that business and leisure travel are often
integrated, the purpose of business travel is further split into two subgroups: one relates
to events, and another to the ordinary interaction with colleagues, customers, etc in
other countries. Business travel of the first kind is assumed to include more leisure-
related activities than the second. Four apparent tendencies are observed here. First, the
importance of holiday travel increases with increasing travel distance. Whereas only
12% of domestic long-distance journeys are holidays, holidays account for almost
two thirds of international trips exceeding 1000 km. Second, in the case of business
travel, the importance of travel to conferences, trade fairs, exhibitions, and other events

Table 4. Distribution of domestic and international long-distance trips on different purposes,

Swedish population, 1999/2000.

Domestic International International very

long-distance long-distance trips, long-distance trips,
trips (%) 100 ± 999 km, 5 1000 km,
one way (%) one way (%)
Business 17 16 22
to conferences and other events 26 36 44
to meetings, customer visits, etc 52 49 38
Visits to friends and relatives 31 12 9
Holiday 12 44 62
Other leisurea 19 16 4
Shopping 4 4 0
Other 17 8 3
All 100 100 100
a `Other leisure' includes activities such as recreation, entertainment, and club activities.
1762 L FrÌndberg, B Vilhelmson

increases with increasing travel distance. Although this tendency is not as compelling as
in the case of holiday travel, it may be interpreted in parallel terms. It probably reflects a
stronger element of holiday and leisure in these forms of business travel compared with
trips motivated by working meetings, customer visits, etc The third tendency worth
noticing is the importance of visits to friends and relatives in domestic long-distance
travel compared with international travel. In absolute terms, the first is twenty times
more frequent than the second. This result shows that national borders may still play a
strong role as `containers' of social processes and spaces. The difference between long
and very long international trips in this respect is not large, however. In the Swedish
case the incidence and intensity of social networks transcending international borders
thus seem to be relatively independent of geographical distance. A fourth observation is
that a substantial segment of domestic long-distance travel is motivated by a multitude of
different activities, here gathered under the categories `other leisure' and `other'. Such
activities are also relatively important among the shorter international trips but play only
a minor role for the longer ones. Still, international trips related to what are conven-
tionally seen as everyday activities (commuting, shopping, entertainment, recreation, etc)
together constitute as much as 15% (more than 1 million) of all international journeys.
Maybe this is an indication of an emerging transnationalisation of everyday spaces.
From a theoretical point of view, it can be concluded that the large majority of the
longest international journeys are motivated by activities that are relatively spatially
unbounded and often directly connected to the use of free time. This tendency rein-
forces the impression of an increasing flexibilisation in the use of time and space. The
geographical extension of social spaces does not yet, then, seem to be the major driving
force behind transnationalisation and globalisation of mobility by Swedes. However,
international travel for personal visits and business purposes is also on the increase,
and it is clear that long-distance mobility is used for a large diversity of activities
traditionally associated with everyday life in local communities.
4.3 Differences in international mobility within the population
It is generally assumed that increasing international long-distance travel is driven both
by a highly mobile elite of global nomads and by many people making a few (more)
trips (for example, the phenomenon of mass tourism)öboth developments associated
with late-modern society. In this section we investigate the social distribution and
present mobility divides among the population.
The current level of international mobility among Swedes corresponds to an
average of a little more than one journey abroad per person per year. This is the
magnitude of the issue. However, the differences in travel intensity within the popula-
tion are large. In the course of one year, it is only every second Swede who participates
in international travel in the first place. Half of the population thus stays within the
borders of the country, while one quarter undertakes a single international trip and
the remaining quarter travels abroad more frequently. The last group accounts for as
much as three quarters of all international journeys among the population. These
findings give a rough idea of the degree to which international mobility is socially
divided in the comparatively highly mobile Swedish population.
To take this analysis further, the population is divided into five groups character-
ised by different levels of annual international travel frequency (see table 5). Of these
groups, it is the one here labelled `hypermobile' öconsisting of people making more
than five international journeys in the course of one yearöthat roughly corresponds to
the concept of `global nomads' discussed in section 2.4. As shown in table 5, this group
Long-distance travel from Sweden 1763

Table 5. Five groups with different levels of international mobility. Swedish population 1999/2000.

International Number of Share of Share of Share of Average

mobility groups international population international total travel international
trips in one (%) trips (%) distance in travel distance
year international per person
trips (%) (km per day)

Nonmobilea 0 47 0 0 0
Slightly mobile 1 28 27 30 10
Fairly mobile 2 12 25 25 20
Highly mobile 3±5 9 25 26 30
Hypermobile 6+ 3 23 19 55
a `Internationally nonmobile' may be a somewhat misleading term in that it refers to people
who did not make any international journey (exceeding 100 km) during the year preceding the
interview. Obviously, many of these may have travelled internationally in previous years.

comprises a mere 3% of the population but accounts for as much as one quarter of all
international journeys.(4)
International trips undertaken by the hypermobile differ in several respects from
those made by the other groups. First, they are on average somewhat shorter, both in
terms of duration and in terms of geographical extension. Because the hypermobile are
such frequent travellers, however, their average annual international travel distance is
still five to six times the population average. (The high travel frequency also implies
that, in spite of the shorter duration of each trip, the average internationally hyper-
mobile individual spends in total more than one month per year outside the country).
The second important difference is found with respect to travel purpose. The hyper-
mobile group makes almost 60% of all international business trips. The number of
international business trips per person and year is fifty times as high among the
hypermobile as it is among the `slightly mobile'. The corresponding ratio for inter-
national holidays is two to one. The concentration of international mobility within
the population is thus closely related to the distribution of international business
travel.
Further bivariate analyses reveal other differences between groups with varying
levels of international mobility. The differences are related to factors such as age, sex,
income, and type of living region. People in professionally active age groups, males,
high-income earners, and those living in the larger cities of Sweden (Stockholm,
Go«teborg, and Malmo«) dominate (that is, are overrepresented) the most internationally
mobile groups. The income factor is of course of major importance; 90% of the high-
income earners made at least one long-distance international trip during the preceding
year, whereas this is the case for only 40% of those belonging to the low-income group.
However, as previously shown, business trips account for much of the difference in
travel intensity. If business travel is left out, the difference in travel intensity between,
for example, men and women, largely disappears.
Our group-level analysis thus indicates that levels of international mobility conform
to the differentiation of groups in several other respects. An important question then is

(4)There are some indications of an underestimation of international mobility by this group. If

overall international mobility is calculated on the basis of the stated annual frequency of inter-
national travel (rather than on the basis of the more detailed reporting of travel during the past two
months) the hypermobile account for as much as 37% of all international journeys. A comparison
of these data with national statistics on international air travel also indicates an underestimation
(see Fra«ndberg and Vilhelmson, 2002).
1764 L FrÌndberg, B Vilhelmson

whether these factors taken together also play out at the individual level. Will, for
example, the difference in travel practices between men and women still be apparent
when the other factors are kept constant? And what factors influence the international
mobility of an individual when all are taken into account simultaneously?
In order to explore these questions a multiple regression analysis was carried out.
Background factors assumed to influence the frequency of international travel regarding
demography (sex, age, household size), geography (living region and type of housing),
economy (personal income, household income), transportation resources (driver's
licence, household car access), and health (disability) of the respondents were then
treated as independent variables. The number of international journeys annually was
used as a dependent variable.
Of course, correlations between the independent variables severely constrain the
final choice of factors in our models. High correlations exist, for example, between
income of the respondent and age, driver's licence, and household income. The same
applies to household income and the number of cars and drivers' licences within the
household. In the statistical model used we give priority to the income variables
(see table 6, model 1: personal income; model 2: household income). Also, to reduce
the influence of extreme values (outliers), we restrict the values of the dependent
variable to a maximum of 24 trips per year. Results of this exercise are presented in
table 6.
On the whole, the results confirm that several factors significantly influence the
level of international mobility (measured as the frequency of long-distance travel to
foreign countries) at the individual level. Apart from the expected importance of
income, the regional factor also matters. People living in the larger cities tend to travel
more than people living in the rural, sparsely populated areas of northern Sweden.
Furthermore, the age factor remains important: middle-aged and elderly people travel
more, whereas, for example, people with disabilities travel less frequently. An impor-
tant finding is that women travel less than men, even when factors such as income, age,
region, etc are controlled for.
Table 6. Factors affecting the amount of international, long-distance travel. Results of regression
analysis, Swedish population, 6 ^ 84 years, 1999 ^ 2000 (N ˆ 11 409).

Dependent Independent Regression Standard Probability R2

variable variable coefficient error >T

Model 1
Travel frequency: number of international trips in preceding year, (maximum 24)
Intercept ÿ0.170 0.451 0.7060
Personal income 0:555  10ÿ5 0:019  10ÿ5 0.0001
Sex ÿ0.131 0.051 0.0099
Region ÿ0.189 0.018 0.0001
Household size 0.064 0.018 0.0003
Handicap 0.628 0.221 0.0046
10.9
Model 2
Travel frequency: number of international trips in preceding year, (maximum 24)
Intercept 1.607 0.140 0.0001
Household income 0:222  10ÿ5 0:012  10ÿ5 0.0001
Sex ÿ0.383 0.058 0.0001
Age 0.005 0.001 0.0008
Region ÿ0.216 0.021 0.0001
6.42
Long-distance travel from Sweden 1765

This type of analysis is only partial, at best, which is indicated by the levels of
explained total variance. The decisionmaking process of long-distance travel is influenced
by personal factors, such as the needs, motives, and wishes of individuals. Such influences
are for obvious reasons hard to capture by the variables at hand. Also, the dynamic
character of these connections are somewhat violated when tackled by a cross-sectional
analysis. Nevertheless, our analysis indicates some important factors affecting the fre-
quency of international mobility of individuals. Women, rural populations, and the
disabled travel less than able-bodied urban populations, and men. These patterns could
be taken to indicate that social connectivity, durable relationships, and attachments
(to places and/or to other people) are significant factors that might limit people in these
categories from higher rates of long-distance travel.

5 Concluding remarks and discussion

In this last section, some further implications of the above results are noted and briefly
discussed from the theoretical and environmental perspectives framing the study.
In line with anticipated transformations of spatial relations implied by existing
theories of transnationalisation and globalisation, international mobility among the
Swedish population increased in intensity, extensity, and velocity during the period
studied. The pattern of geographical extension of mobility indeed involves a tendency
towards globalisation, which is important in explaining the rapid increases in distances
travelled. However, by far the largest volume of international travel, as well as the
major share of growth in international mobility, occurs within Europe. Intraregional
transnationalisation is thus the dominant process at work as regards the distanciation
of physical or corporeal interaction.
Furthermore, this trend of transnationalisation is unevenly spread between different
purposes and activities generating travel. First, it should be noted that it is international
travel related to free-time activities that is increasing most rapidly. This is also the
segment that constitutes the large majority of the longest (>1000 km) international
journeys, where holidays alone represent more than half of all such trips. In contrast,
long-distance travel to visit friends and relatives is largely domestic, which shows that
the Swedish national borders still play a strong role as `containers' of social processes
and spaces. The growth of international business travel is not as rapid as that of leisure
travel. A large share of the longest business trips is, moreover, motivated by temporary
events rather than by interaction within more stable or durable sociospatial work
relations. An inclusive impression is thus an overwhelming domination, among the
longest trips, of travel motivated by activities being relatively sociospatially unbounded;
in other words, not exclusively tied to one specific place (as is the case for the large
segment represented by package tourism). We conclude that it is not yet the geo-
graphical extension of more enduring social relations, which is the major driving force
behind the transnationalisation, and globalisation of mobility by Swedes. Rather, as our
investigation shows, these changes are so far largely a matter of an increasing short-term
flexibilisation of people's use of time and space.
Nevertheless, trips made to visit friends and relatives abroad did increase in
frequency during the period, reaching almost 1 million in 2000 (among a population
of 8 million). Among these social trips, comparatively long ones are almost as frequent as
shorter ones. In the Swedish case the incidence and intensity of the social relations and
networks, which do transcend international borders, are thus relatively independent of
geographical distance. Furthermore, a relatively large share of the shorter international
trips relates to what is conventionally seen as everyday activities (commuting, shop-
ping, entertainment, recreation, etc). Such journeys together constitute as much as 15%
1766 L FrÌndberg, B Vilhelmson

(more than 1 million) of all international trips conducted by Swedes, indicating an

ongoing transnationalisation of everyday activity spaces as well.
So far, we have discussed the question of transnationalisation of social contacts on
the basis of information about travel purpose at an aggregated level. Interesting, in view
of the discussions of transnationalism and transnational social spaces, are questions of
intensity of interaction at an individual and group level. According to our study and
depending on definition used, the internationally most highly mobile group constitute
3 ^ 10% of the total Swedish population. It is shown here that the travel pattern of the
internationally most mobile is distinguished from that of other groups by a high
frequency of business travel. From this we may conclude that transnational social
spaces involving Swedish residents are mainly a matter of transnational communities
of professional elites.
An important consequence of the observed substantial increase in travel distance
and the further shift towards high-speed air travel is that the most environmentally
problematic aspects of long-distance mobility were reinforced during the period under
study. This development certainly provokes the need for a sustainability turn within
this field of practice and research. A general impression, however, is that theories
exploring the processes of globalisation and transnationalisation of mobility seldom
deal with the difficult issues of how to control and adapt long-distance travel and use
of places into more sustainable patterns. In short, present theories either view conti-
nually extended personal mobility as a consequence of technological change and
economic growth or as inherent features of late-modern societies which are difficult
to influence.
The observed development may be interpreted in terms of a so-called rebound
effect (for example, Berkhout et al, 2000; Greening et al, 2000). Increasing energy
efficiency, increasing speeds of travel, and decreasing transport costs (per kilometre
travelled) have over the years largely been used to increase travel frequency and travel
distance rather than to realise any energy, money, and time savings. Because of this
dynamic, international travel represents an area of consumption where the decoupling
of economic growth from environmental deterioration may be hard to achieve. Balanc-
ing the overall costs and benefits of international travel therefore represents a growing
social dilemma öfor organisations and individuals as well as at the level of political
decisionmaking.
One important aspect of this is the question of what groups and what type of
travel would (or should) be targeted or affected if policy measures were introduced
to escape the rebound effect and adjust long-distance travel into more sustainable
patterns. Because the major part of the longest international trips are of a compara-
tively spatially unbounded character, it may be concluded that global mobility is
relatively susceptible to changing external conditions öin terms of price levels, the
functioning of the market, and the prevailing risk situation, and perhaps also in terms
of restrictions relating to environmental considerations. However, to the extent that
international mobility is integrated as a taken for granted and/or socially expected
part of many people's lives, habits of long-distance leisure mobility may still prove
difficult to influence. Furthermore, an extensive spatially unbounded mobility forms
part of the processes in which more durable relationships and attachments spanning
great distances are established.
Acknowledgements. The Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems financially supported the pre-
paration of this paper. Three anonymous referees provided valuable comments on an earlier draft
of the paper.
Long-distance travel from Sweden 1767

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