Gotland has been selected to host the 2031 International Island Games, with the event scheduled for 28 June to 4 July 2031. Representatives of the 24 member islands confirmed the Swedish island as host during a meeting in the Faroe Islands, one year before the 2027 Games are due to be staged there. The decision means Gotland will host the biennial event for a third time, having previously done so in 1999 and 2017.
The appointment places Gotland among a small group of repeat hosts. Guernsey became the first island to stage the Games three times in 2023, and the Isle of Man is set to hold its third edition in 2029. Fredrik Persson, chair of the Gotland organizing committee, said the bid process had been underway since 2024 and that organizers now have five years to prepare the event.
The selection comes amid broader discussion about how major sporting events can affect travel and local economies. Separate tourism data tied to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada showed that benefits were not limited to official host cities. CoStar reported that revenue per available room in U.S. non-host markets had risen at least 6% year over year each week since the tournament began, while hotel demand in those markets was up 1.7% in late June.
Supporters of that view say fans moving between venues and targeted marketing campaigns helped direct spending into surrounding destinations, with some areas posting sharp jumps in travel interest and hotel searches. But the gains were not uniform. Theme-park-oriented markets such as Orlando recorded declines in both occupancy and revenue per available room, underscoring that the impact of major events can vary significantly depending on a destination's visitor mix and local tourism profile.
