1. Domestic tourism in Norway
1.1 Importance of domestic tourism
Domestic tourism is an important part of the tourism industry in Norway. In 2019, the domestic tourism consumption amounted to over NOK 151 billion, or approximately 70 per cent of the total tourism consumption. While the domestic tourism consumption rose during the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it showed lower numbers in 2020 (NOK 102 billion) and 2021 (NOK 132 billion). The domestic tourist consumption by Norwegian households as a share of total household consumption amounted to 7.3 per cent of their household expenditures in 2018, and 7.2 per cent in 2019.
In terms of spending, Norwegian tourists tend to spend less when travelling domestically than when travelling abroad. In 2018, 70 per cent of the Norwegians tourism took place in Norway, but only 33 per cent of the tourism budget was spent in Norway.
Another way of measuring the importance of domestic tourism is to measure the number of domestic overnight stays. During the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of domestic overnight stays in Norway increased with a total number of overnight stays in 2018 amounting to almost 19 million. This exceeded the previous record set in 2017 with three million. Likewise, the overall domestic tourism increased by 18 per cent in 2018, compared to 2017. The increase continued in 2020 when 3.6 million more domestic holiday trips were conducted compared to in 2019, which equals an increase of 32 per cent. The increase continued in 2021, when 20.5 million trips were made by Norwegians in Norway, which can be compared to the total number of trips of 22.3 million.
There are regional differences in the size and share of domestic tourism in Norway. An interviewee pointed out that domestic tourism is concentrated to the south of Norway and to the larger cities. On the other hand, relatively fewer domestic tourists visit northern Norway.
The difference in the number of domestic visitors staying overnight in commercial establishments in Norway between 2019 and 2020 varied between regions. Southern Norway recorded an increase in domestic visitors, and so did the southern part of Northern Norway and the Northwestern part of Norway. The rest of the country recorded an overall decrease in the number of domestic visitors staying overnight between 2019 and 2020. In a Nordic comparison, Norway stood out as the only country, in which the capital region experienced an increase of domestic overnight stays in 2020 compared to 2019.
General restrictions to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 infection were enforced in Norway for about two years, with the first restrictions introduced on 12 March 2020. Throughout the pandemic, restrictions in Norway included, e.g., quarantine for all visitors coming into the country, irrespective of if they showed symptoms or not, and closing all educational institutions and discontinuing sporting events. During periods, international travellers, and aircrafts from locations with expansive outbreaks of COVID-19, were prohibited to land or travel into Norway. Leisure travel was discouraged, and Norwegians were prohibited from travelling domestically to their country houses during parts of the pandemic. Norway removed most of the restrictions on 25 September 2021, but some restrictions remained in place, and were not lifted until 12 February 2022. Restrictions in Svalbard were lifted on 1 March 2022. Presently, in October 2022, there are no longer any restrictions applying to international tourists travelling to Norway.
1.2 Domestic tourist preferences in Norway
To date, target audience analyses have not been carried out in the domestic market, and no tourist profiles have been developed. However, according to the interviewee of Innovation Norway, one defining characteristic of Norwegian tourists travelling domestically is that they book trips by themselves and arrive by themselves, in pairs or as small groups. In that sense, Norwegian tourists differ from most international tourists coming to Norway - which often book their travels via tourism agencies and more commonly travel in larger groups. Norwegian domestic tourists also spend less time at their destination compared to international tourists.
Domestic tourists are perceived by the interviewee of Innovation Norway as having higher expectations on the standard of products and services compared to international tourists. Consequently, companies in the tourism industry had to readjust their offers during the pandemic. For example, some Sámi tourism entrepreneurs remodelled their products to fit domestic tourists by updating their accommodation to glamping and their food and beverage menus to become more luxurious. In Northern Norway, luxurious accommodations, and other services, such as high-end restaurants, were a major trend during the pandemic.
According to the interviewee of the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, domestic tourists are weather-sensitive to a greater extent, when compared to international tourists. Domestic tourists usually avoid pre-booked packages and can choose to postpone if the weather is considered poorly. International tourists usually have pre-booked package products – and have less of a possibility to cancel. When it comes to the shift in domestic tourism preferences during the COVID-19 restrictions, the interviewee mentions that outdoor recreation grew in popularity.
1.3 Future of domestic tourism in Norway
Forecasts show that growth in tourism in Norway until 2030 will be the highest among local and Norwegian tourists. The growth in international tourism is expected to be strong in both 2022 and 2023, but it is not expected to reach its 2019 level until 2024.
In September 2022, 538 members of NHO Reiseliv responded to a market survey about the level of bookings for international and domestic tourism in the next three months compared to 2019. 21 per cent of the companies answered that booking levels were expected to be better; 32 per cent answered that they would be unchanged, whereas 31 per cent of the companies answered that they would be lower. 17 per cent of the companies answered that a loss of Norwegian domestic tourist could, in part, explain the lower level of bookings. One interviewee pointed out that Norwegian tourists chose to go abroad to a greater extent in the summer of 2022 compared to 2020 and 2021 – having spent their vacations in Norway during the first years of the pandemic. Another interviewee, however, stressed that domestic tourism preferences, activities, products, and experiences related to food, cultural, and historic tourism, as well as outdoor activities, such as cycling, fishing, and archery, are thought to be trending in the coming years.
2. Main stakeholders and coordination of domestic tourism activities
In Norway, no government agency is tasked with overseeing and coordinating activities aimed at promoting domestic tourism specifically. However, during the years 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic, these activities were included in the overall coordination of international tourism activities through Innovation Norway, a government agency functioning as an international tourism administration. Matters related to the tourism industry generally falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. Innovation Norway then cooperates closely with industry stakeholders in development efforts. These efforts include, among other things, loans, grants, consulting, promotion, and networking. Funding is allocated via the state budget on a yearly basis. Activities aimed at promoting and developing domestic tourism were included in the budget for 2020 and 2021 in light of the pandemic. As of 2021, Innovation Norway will not continue to include domestic tourism in their mission.
In addition to the Ministry and Innovation Norway, regions and municipalities are important stakeholders for developing domestic tourism in Norway. Regions and municipalities are responsible for local regulations and planning, infrastructure, national parks, and attractions. Norway’s regions and municipalities often have their own tourism strategies outlining activities and goals related to tourism development. These are rarely aimed at domestic tourism specifically, but rather at promoting tourism in general. It is common for Norwegian regions and municipalities to support regional or local tourism organisations. These are accompanied by a few important national organisations, such as Norway’s largest outdoor organisation and destination management organisation, the Norwegian Tourism Organisation.
3. Best practices
This chapter presents two “best practice” examples of efforts aimed at recovering and strengthening the Norwegian tourism industry, including the promotion of domestic tourism, namely Innovation Norway’s transition package UT-OMS-REISELIV (case 1) and Destination Sápmi (case 2).
3.1 Case 1: Innovation Norway’s transition package UT-OMS-REISELIV
In response to the loss of 90 per cent in the total tourism in 2020, Innovation Norway introduced a support package that, among other things, aimed at helping companies in the Norwegian tourism industry to change their markets from international to domestic tourists. The overall aims of the initiative were to (i) keep the tourism industry afloat; (ii) enable companies to pay salaries to their employees; (iii) help companies transition to the domestic market; and (iv) support companies in increasing their sustainability practises.
3.1.1 Activities
The support package had three application deadlines for companies: in September 2020, January 2021, and September 2021. The disbursement in the respective packages amounted to NOK 250 million, NOK 600 million, and NOK 850 million. The target group were companies in the tourism industry, which could apply for financial support to carry out activities in line with the overall aims of the package. 2000 companies applied for the support. Below, Table 1 presents a financial and temporal overview of the package.