More Norwegian than foreign guest nights

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Guest nights in Norway increased by 4 per cent from 2018 to 2019, where seven out of ten guest nights in 2019 was spent by Norwegians. 2019 was the sixth consecutive year with a record in total guest nights.

The latest figures from the accommodation statistics show that there were 35.2 million guest nights at commercial accommodation establishments in Norway last year, an increase of over a million. Norwegian and foreign guest nights rose by 780 000 and 560 000, respectively. The increase was mainly due to an increase in guest nights at hotels, but camping sites also registered an increase. Preliminary figures from Eurostat estimate an increase in guest nights in the EU countries by 2.4 per cent from 2018 to 2019.

Figures from countries within the EU from January to November 2019 show that half of the guest nights in Europe are spent by each country, national citizen. It is worth noting that there, unsurprisingly, are major differences within the EU. Sweden and Finland are similar to Norway. In Iceland, nine out of ten guest nights were spent by foreigners, and at typical tourist destinations such as Croatia and Greece, a large majority of guest nights were spent by foreigners.

Figure 1. Guest nights at accommodation establishments in Europe. Share of total nights by residents and non-residents. January to November 2019

Nights spent by residents Nights spent by non-residents
Romania 82.4 17.6
Poland 80.2 19.8
Germany 79.8 20.2
Sweden 74.8 25.2
Norway 70.7 29.3
Finland 70.6 29.4
France 69.5 30.5
Slovakia 64.9 35.1
Netherlands 62.5 37.5
Denmark 62.5 37.5
Serbia 60.6 39.4
United Kingdom 56.6 43.4
Lithuania 53.7 46.3
European Union - 28 countries 53.3 46.7
Czechia 53.0 47.0
Hungary 52.9 47.1
Belgium 50.0 50.0
Italy 48.8 51.2
Ireland 45.8 54.2
Estonia 37.1 62.9
Spain 36.0 64.0
Portugal 33.3 66.7
Kosovo 32.8 67.2
Bulgaria 32.5 69.9
North Macedonia 31.3 68.7
Latvia 30.1 69.9
Austria 29.0 71.0
Slovenia 27.5 72.5
Greece 15.3 84.7
Iceland 12.3 87.7
Luxembourg 11.5 88.5
Montenegro 10.0 90.0
Croatia 7.5 92.5
Cyprus 5.4 94.6
Malta 4.3 95.7
Liechtenstein 1.9 98.1

Regional differences

Oslo had the highest number of both national and foreign guest nights in 2019. Trøndelag was the county with the second-highest number of Norwegian guest nights, while Hordaland had the second-highest number of foreign ones. Sogn og Fjordane was the only county with more foreign than national guest nights, while the counties Svalbard, Hordaland, and Troms, had a high share of foreign guest nights.

Figure 2. Shares of guest nights by non-residents. 2019

Shares
ØSTFOLD 12.2
AKERSHUS 22.2
OSLO 35.7
HEDMARK 25.9
OPPLAND 25.4
BUSKERUD 30.3
VESTFOLD 14.3
TELEMARK 18.9
AUST-AGDER 19.5
VEST-AGDER 16.4
ROGALAND 27.3
HORDALAND 41.0
SOGN OG FJORDANE 51.9
MØRE OG ROMSDAL 37.9
TRØNDELAG 18.6
NORDLAND 37.5
TROMS 40.8
FINNMARK 39.2
SVALBARD 45.0
Figure 2. Shares of guest nights by non-residents. 2019
Shares
ØSTFOLD 12.2
AKERSHUS 22.2
OSLO 35.7
HEDMARK 25.9
OPPLAND 25.4
BUSKERUD 30.3
VESTFOLD 14.3
TELEMARK 18.9
AUST-AGDER 19.5
VEST-AGDER 16.4
ROGALAND 27.3
HORDALAND 41.0
SOGN OG FJORDANE 51.9
MØRE OG ROMSDAL 37.9
TRØNDELAG 18.6
NORDLAND 37.5
TROMS 40.8
FINNMARK 39.2
SVALBARD 45.0

More guest nights at camping sites

Camping sites registered 1.4 per cent more guest nights in 2019, compared to the previous year. Guest nights in campers and huts increased by 8.7 and 7.2 per cent, while guest nights in tents and caravans declined.

  • 7.5 million guest nights in 2019
  • Norwegian guest nights declined slightly
  • Foreign guest nights increased by 7.5 per cent

Fewer guest nights at holiday dwellings

  • 2.3 million guest nights in 2019
  • 1.8 per cent decline since 2018
  • Norwegian guest nights declined 4.2 per cent
  • Foreign guest nights was unchanged

More foreign guest nights in Svalbard

  • 166 000 guest nights in 2019
  • 7 per cent increase since 2018
  • Norwegian guest nights increased by 1 per cent
  • Foreign guest nights increased by 15 per cent

Figure 3. Share of total guest nights by establishment, 2019

Hotels 71% Camping sites 21% Holiday dwellings 7% Hostelling International 1%
Per cent 71 21 7 1

11 per cent more guest nights in December

In December 2019, there were slightly above 1.6 million guest nights in total. Both Norwegian and foreign guest nights increased, by 9 and 16 per cent, respectively.

Changes due to regional changes in Norway

In January 2020 13 counties became 6 new ones, and we now have 11 counties in Norway. The publication of statistics from January 2020 and onward will use the new counties, that were valid from 2020. The statistics will be published with total guest nights on municipalities, where several have been merged together in order to publish figures. There will also be published figures on total arrivals, not only on hotels from 2020. Statistics Norway will not publish figures on new counties from previous years, and there will be a break in several tables.