In spite of the weak crown and the climate, holiday- Norwegians worry little when making holiday plans

The krone is weak, and climate awareness has never been so high among Norwegians. Still, we plan to spend more money on vacation this year than last year.

We prefer to travel to Spain on summer holiday and to England on a weekend trips. In total, our holiday budget for 2020 will amount to NOK 43,050 per household, compared to last year’s NOK 39,500, according to fresh figures from Virke Reiseliv’s population survey.

The survey shows that of the 70 percent of us who are planning a summer vacation, six out of ten say that they want to go abroad. Spain is the favorite, where 30 per cent want to travel, followed by Denmark and Sweden in second place with 22 per cent each and then Greece with 21 per cent.

– After a year in which there has been much speculation about whether people will travel less, we can conclude that the desire for travel is still high. At the same time, we see that people are committed to accessing sustainable travel alternatives, and that the industry itself is committed to becoming more sustainable, says Astrid Bergmål, head of Virke Reiseliv.

Many will go on weekend trips
33 per cent state that the environment is the governing factor for their choice of destination or travel product, while 41 per cent say they want environmentally friendly alternatives when booking a trip. According to Bergmål, the industry has drawn up a number of measures to make travel more sustainable.

But we still like to travel on weekend trips , often several during the year. 79 percent will make such a trip in 2020, and almost half will travel abroad. Then the UK tops as a destination, with 31 per cent of those polled – up 6 percentage points from 2019.

Environmental considerations are second to none

– People want to use the weekends for travel and experiences both in Norway and abroad, preferably with friends and family. More and more people are exploring nature and cultural experiences, food and drink or to go on activities as the purpose of the trip. It’s about having good experiences, says Bergmål in Virke.

When asked what governs the choice of travel product and destination, political stability and security tops the list- with 72 per cent saying that it controls the holiday choice to a “very large” or “fairly large” degree, while consumer safety follows just behind. Further down in sixth place – after prices, standard and hotel amenities – follows environmental considerations.

Eight percent of those surveyed say that environmental considerations control their choice to a very large extent, while 25 percent respond “to a fairly large extent”.

Least of all are we worried about exchange rates when choosing holiday destinations: This controls only 5 percent ‘to a very large extent’ , and 20 percent ‘to a fairly large extent’.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today