Innovation Norway gives Trump blame for tourist decline from China

Oslo.Tourists in the Frogner Park.Photo : Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB scanpix

The number of Chinese tourists in Norway is declining significantly after several years of strong growth. US President Donald Trump’s trade war with China has received a lot of the blame.

 

In June,Chinese visitors spent 72,500 days in Norwegian hotels. According to figures from Statistics Norway, that’s a decrease of 15.2% compared to last year.

Per Holte, Innovation Norway’s market specialist in the Asian markets, told Dagens Næringsliv newspaper (DN) that the tourism drop is primarily due to extensive caution among Chinese consumers due to the trade war with the USA, a weakening of Chinese currency, and uncertainty on the stock market.

“Another factor is that combination trips to Russia and Scandinavia have failed due to high price levels in Russia as a result of the World Cup,” he said.

Last year, Chinese tourists bought VAT for a total of NOK 250 million in Norway according to DN’s calculations and figures from Global Blue Norway.

It wasn’t only the Chinese who dropped trips to Norway. According to Statistics Norway, Britons have also chosen to take their holidays in other destinations.

The number of hotel nights spent by tourists from the UK decreased by 20.1% to 58,773 in June, compared to the same month last year.

The Americans, on the other hand, have turned their noses east this summer.

From the United States, there has been an increase in visits of 20% to 113,837 overnight stays in Norwegian hotels, compared with 94,826 last year.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today