Residents’ guest nights at hotels by decreased sharply

Published:

Total guest nights in October 2020, the month before a reintroduction of restrictions concerning social distancing, declined by 33 per cent compared to October 2019. A heavy fall in the number of Norwegian residents’ guest nights at hotels was the main factor behind the overall decline.

Written by: Jarle Kvile

Figures from the accommodation statistics show there were approximately 1.5 million guest nights at commercial accommodation establishments in October this year. Norwegian guest nights declined by 23 per cent, while foreign guest nights declined by 70 per cent. Norwegian guest nights at hotels declined by 29 per cent, while they increased by 13 per cent at camping sites and 21 per cent at holiday dwellings and youth hostels.

Restrictions to slow down the spread of the pandemic in October were particularly linked to travel from foreign countries and social distancing; this is evident in the figures from October.

- Fewer total guest nights from Norwegian residents in the months prior to new restrictions, does not bode well for the rest of the year, says Kristin Aasestad, advisor at Statistics Norway.

Figure 1a. Total guest nights by Norwegian residents compared to last year

January February March April May June July August September October
2019 Norway 1266501 1394123 1688783 1620061 1979317 2711985 4242158 2956620 2018340 1767649
2020 Norway 1370525 1566396 741153 277367 959303 2211679 5890153 2902036 1622126 1364500

Figure 1b. Total guest nights by foreign residents compared to last year

January February March April May June July August September October
2019 Foreign 451319 558165 571081 474671 751255 1549184 2333013 2002161 767914 464010
2020 Foreign 507041 639876 282066 53710 70618 127957 480916 610411 204795 138697

Sharp decline at hotels in October

There were 1.2 million guest nights at Norwegian hotels in October 2020. This was 38 per cent lower compared to October 2019.

Read also on ssb.no

Statistics