Norwegians have cut their summer vacation budget by 15 percent this year on average, while Swedes and Danes have cut it by 5 percent.
Norwegian households plan to spend around 20.200 kroner on average, while Sweden and Denmark have a holiday budget of 17.100 and 16.700 kroner respectively. The survey was done by TNS Gallup on behalf of Nordea and adjusted for the consumer price index. This survey shows this summer budget is the lowest since 2006 for Norwegians.
“I think Norwegians are feeling the oil slump. Although low interest rates maintain or purchasing power, it seems as if we are taking precautionary measures and have responded by cutting consumption. Norwegians are still spend more than our Nordic neighbors, but the differences are slowly but surely are beginning to level out,” said consumer economist Elin Reitan of Nordea.
Trend
The budget gap between Norway and neighboring countries is partly because Swedes and Danes often choose locally holidays, especially in their own country, in their own cabins or with friends and family. Meanwhile, Norway is choosing to go abroad.
“The overall impression from the travel industry is that this is not an explosive trend, but more of a gradual, positive trend, partly due to the exchange rate. It looks like we get a record summer on top of last year’s record summer,” says Technical Manager Robert Whale Straumann in active tourism.
In Innovation Norway’s tourism barometer, an expert panel from Norwegian and foreign tourism, says less than 61 percent said they believe there are more tourists in Norway this year. After the increase in the last two years, 33 percent think the increase is from Denmark, while 50 percent believe the increase is from Sweden.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
