Norway Becomes More Affordable for Foreign Visitors!
Norway has become a significantly more affordable territory for foreign visitors in recent years, according to Travel and Tour report.
Besides, the Nordic country is no longer part of Europe’s most expensive countries, while its capital Oslo is also out of the list of top 20 most expensive cities in the world, based on the survey conducted by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
While the Norwegian kroner (NOK) is considered weak, it means that passengers from other countries are eligible to head to Norway without having to spend a large amount of money.
Despite the fact that the Nordic country has been considered a high-cost country, it has become cheaper for a large number of passengers in recent years, even though it has been subject to significant difficulties such as rising inflation, the situation caused by the COVID-related restrictions as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Besides, Norway has become more affordable for Scandinavian and UK visitors particularly, and also for passengers from the Eurozone. In the last year alone, the Euro and the US dollar have gained nearly 15 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, from Norwway’s NOK.
The report of Travel and Tour notes that the Danish krone (DKK) is up by a total of 15 per cent, while the Swedish krona (SEK) is up by a total of 10 per cent and the pound is worth nearly 8 per cent more in Norway now in comparison to the same period last year.
Despite the difficulties caused by the spread of COVID-19 and restrictions imposed to contain its further spread, Norway managed to open its doors to many foreign visitors.
The figures provided by Statistics Norway revealed that last year the number of visitor nights at hotels as well as other accommodation establishments increased by a total of 33 per cent from 2021, returning to the exact figures as those registered in 2019.
“There was an increased willingness to travel domestically in 2022 compared to 2021. At the same time, foreign guest nights tripled,” senior adviser in Statistics Norway, Kristin Aasestad, pointed out.
A previous report by the OECD showed that in the last decade, the economic contribution of Norway’s tourism industry surged significantly, reaching a total of NOK 127.4 million in 2019, thus representing 3.6 per cent of the total GDP.