Norwegians exchange Spain for Scandinavia

Lanzarote, Spain.Photo: Lise Åserud / SCANPIX (FRB)

Norwegians exchange Spain for Scandinavia

Norwegians’ travel enthusiasm is high and stable, but in the summer of 2019, more people plan to replace the holiday favourite Spain with countries in Scandinavia.


About seven out of ten of us are planning to take summer holidays this year, and travel enthusiasm among Norwegians has remained stable at around the same proportion since 2013, according to recent figures from Virke’s tourism survey.

Of those planning to take a summer vacation, 60% have intentions to go abroad. This proportion has also been stable in recent years, but is somewhat lower this year than last year.

The most dramatic change lies in the destination of our ‘overseas’ trips.

“People continue to travel to charter favourites such as Greece, Croatia, and Italy, but the figures show that more people will be taking their holiday abroad to Scandinavian countries this year, ” said Astrid Bergmål, head of Virke Reiseliv.

“Spain is still a holiday favourite, but more than before plan to change Spain with Sweden or Denmark,” she said.

Influenced by record heat

According to the figures from the tourism survey, 29% plan to spend all or part of the summer holidays in Spain. This is 5% fewer than last year. The proportion who will make the trip to our neighbouring countries, Sweden and Denmark, increased by 4 and 5%, respectively.

At the same time, the figures show that Norway as a holiday destination is still strong. The vast majority of those who take summer holidays are planning to be in Norway, either for the entire holiday or combined with a holiday abroad.

The growing interest in spending the summer in Scandinavia is probably due to the hot and dry summer last year according to Bergmål.

“Much indicates that last year’s tropical heat has affected the holiday plans,” she said.

Optimistic industry

Three out of ten plan to spend all or part of the holiday at a private cabin in Norway. About the same number will stay home or go to visit family or friends.

About 17% have plans to visit hotels, campsites, rental cabins and the like in Norway during the summer holidays. Approximately 8 out of 10 also stated that they will take at least one weekend trip in 2019, and as much as 31% plan weekend breaks to hotels and rental cabins in Norway.

That is even more good news for the Norwegian tourism industry, which had a very good year last year.

“Tourism expects a new super summer, and optimism is great for 2019,” wrote Virke, which represents over 1,200 businesses in the fields of culture and tourism.

Stable budget

The average holiday budget for 2019 is NOK 39,500. It’s not less than last year, but no dramatic increase. If you take away those who plan to spend over NOK 100,000 on a holiday this year, the average budget is NOK 32,350.

The vast majority stated that the purpose of the summer holidays is to spend time with family and friends. Recreation, sunbathing and swimming are a close number two. When we travel on weekend trips, we are more concerned with experiencing new places than going on a beach holiday.

“People want to use the weekends for trips and experiences both in Norway and abroad, preferably with friends and family. More and more people draw on cultural experiences, food and drink, or activities as the purpose for the trip,“ said Bergmål.


© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
RSS Feed