Norwegians set football record

Football Apollo travelFootball travels doubles in volume. Photo: Apollo

Norwegians set football travel record

Since last year’s season, Apollo has doubled the sales of football (the real sport, aka soccer) trips, and it is primarily the Premier League that lures Norwegians to the stands. Perhaps not so surprising: Every year more than 90,000 Norwegians attend a football match in England. That makes Norwegians the second biggest supporter club for the league outside the UK, only beaten by neighbouring Ireland!

 

Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham are the teams that most Apollo customers travel to watch live, but Liverpool is a dark horse in the race. After Widerøe launched a direct flight from Flesland to Liverpool, record numbers have secured tickets to watch the iconic team play at home.

Regardless of favourite team, no Norwegian wearing a football strip will walk alone in England: According to VisitBritain, more than 90,000 Norwegians watch a football match each year when they visit the country, many for the game alone. It makes us number two worldwide – only beaten by neighbouring Ireland, followed by a giant, China. Sweden comes in at the fifth spot.

– Norwegian football supporters are in a love relationship with the Premier League – only that they meet their beloved ones a few times every year. That they take most seriously. Since last year we have doubled the sales of football trips, and we aim to do so for the next season as well. This relationship will be nurtured and taken care off, says Ronny Bolsøy, Apollos expert on football travels.

London Travel Apollo

Many combine a football match with a long week-end in London. Photo: Apollo

No middlemen, full flexibility

Apollo’s flexibility and cooperation with official ticket vendors is a decisive factor for the success: Unlike our competitors, the tickets are available in real time, without muddle men and without having to wait for confirmation. Neither do you need to be a member of a supporters club to secure tickets – and customers have the complete freedom to customize the trip according to their needs: The customers decide how long they will be staying and which hotels to stay at – a flexibility Apollo is alone to offer in Norway.

– A football trip is not necessarily just about the match, but about sharing the experience and knowing the atmosphere and the mood among like-minded people both before and after the game. Most people who book a football trip want to combine the game with a long weekend in the city, and we are proud to offer just that, says Bolsøy.

Gives a football experience as a gift

It is not just the number of trips that increase at Apollo. Nearly half of Apollo’s football trips are ordered by women. According to Bolsøy, there is a clear trend: An increasing number of women are watching matches abroad both with their girlfriends and their boyfriend, and more and more give travel experiences as a gift.

– Football is unifying. Interest is common across the board: age, gender and nationality do not matter one iota. Most importantly, it is extremely social. Travel experiences are becoming an increasingly popular gift to give away and our football trips are bull’s eye in that regard. One Combine matches with the city, culture, quality time and shopping – and that can never be a bad thing, he says.

Apollo also registers an increase to larger groups travelling together. Since you can order fewer football tickets than the number of people travelling together, it has also become a popular product for families wanting to make a big city trip together. Especially this applies to the London teams in the Premier League, supplemented by Barcelona in La Liga.

Apollo sells football travels to the Premier League, La Liga, La Ligue 1 and the Champions League.

 

© Apollo / #Norway Today