Norwegians follow their king, choose Vestland as their holiday destination this summer

Royal shipPhoto: Heiko Junge / NTB

Vestland county is at the top among planned destinations for Norwegians this summer. Thus, the people are in line with the royal couple, who start their trip to Vestland on Tuesday.

“I hope that we’re entering a summer with plenty of Norwegian tourism and that a little more international tourists will follow in the autumn,” Aurland Mayor Trygve Skjerdal (SP) told news bureau NTB.

On Tuesday morning, he will be ready on the cruise quay in Flåm to receive King Harald and Queen Sonja, who are on a trip to the west with the royal ship. 

Although international cruise ships will not be in the tourist village this summer either, an influx of Norwegian tourists is expected during the summer months.

Vestland, a vacation favorite

In Virke Reiseliv’s recent travel survey, seven out of ten respondents answered that they are planning a summer holiday this year. 

Of those who will vacation in Norway, 30% stated that they would travel to Vestland county. About the same number answered that they are going to Viken.

47% stated that they are going to visit family friends in Norway, 45% said that they are going on a cabin trip in Norway, while 43% answered that they are going to stay at a hotel/campsite in Norway.

Although many people are planning a trip within Norway, the tourism industry in this country is far from healthy after 15 months of corona drought, according to Astrid Bergmål, leader of Virke Reiseliv.

“It has been extremely demanding and is still very difficult, especially for the part of Norwegian tourism that lives off international tourists. Although several have made adjustments and targeted the Norwegian market, there is no doubt that they need to get started with guests from abroad this summer as well,” Bergmål told NTB.

Must persevere

She says that the member companies that sell travel (products and services) in Norway report a good summer during the vacation period, with plenty of Norwegian tourists. But that the autumn could be tough if foreign tourists remain absent.

“Now, everything for these companies is about persevering in 2021 so that they can be part of the upswing in 2022. We know that the day will come when the arrows point upwards again. We have been hoping and believing that this day would arrive a lot earlier, but it has taken an unbelievably long time,” she said.

In Flåm, the mayor of Aurland is ready to receive most Norwegians after the royal ship has left the village and sailed across the Sognefjord towards Hyllestad on Tuesday. Recent times have been demanding for the business community in the tourist municipality.

“We usually have international guests all year round. When they are absent, we really notice it,” he said.

Good occupancy

Now he is looking forward to brighter times.

“It will probably be a summer with good occupancy with Norwegian tourists. Then I’m very happy to see that they are in the process of softening the quarantine rules for fully vaccinated (people),” he said.

Here are the other top locations that summer holidaymakers plan to visit, according to Virke’s tourism survey:

  • Vestland 30%
  • Viken 30%
  • Vestfold and Telemark 21%
  • Trøndelag 20%
  • Oslo 20%
  • Innlandet 20%
  • Agder 19%
  • Nordland 17%
  • Møre og Romsdal 17%
  • Rogaland 15%
  • Troms and Finnmark 14%
  • Svalbard 1%
  • Don’t know 20%

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayTravel

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