There were 1.4 million Norwegian notice the difference between “guest nights” and “guest”. One guest may have several guest nights. at the hotels in March this year, 4.6 per cent less than in March 2023. Foreign guest nights increased by 28 per cent, to 520 000.
– A weak Norwegian currency and Easter are important reasons why more foreigners chose to stay at Norwegian hotels in March this year. We have seen an increasing trend in the number of foreign guest nights ever since the measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus were lifted, says advisor Boyd Oyier in Statistics Norway.
– Higher prices along with weakened purchasing power for many Norwegians may have contributed to Norwegians staying less at hotels, continues Oyier.
If we add guest nights at camping sites, All types of establishments with a rental unit (apartments, huts etc.) with self-catering and limited service. Stays are short-term. there were a total of 2.5 million guest nights at The numbers refer to hotels, short-term holiday dwellings, camping sites, and youth hostels. in March 2024. That is 148 000 more than March last year according to new figures from the accommodation statistics. Foreign guest nights increased by 158 000, at the same time Norwegian guest nights decreased by 10 000.
Most guest nights at hotels in Oslo
Out of the 66 A tourism region is a regional classification for a level between county and municipality. These regions have been designated by a tourism bureau or other agency within the tourism industry in cooperation with Statistics Norway. Oslo had the highest number of guest nights at the hotels, followed by the Bergen region, Romerike/Hadeland, and Trondheim. In March, holiday and recreation accounted for the increase in hotel guest nights while there were fewer guest nights related to courses, conferences, and occupation.
– Since Easter was in March this year, it is not unexpected that we see an increase in the number of hotel guest nights in connection with holiday and recreation compared to March last year. We observe a significant increase in holiday and recreation guest nights in the major cities and typical mountain regions, while there was a significant decline in guest nights related to courses, conferences, and occupation, says Oyier.
In accordance with definitions from Eurostat, refugees should be excluded from tourism statistics and not be considered as guests in the context of tourism statistics when they stay at a tourist accommodation establishment. Refugees from Ukraine cannot be assigned by purpose as holiday, occupation or course, conference. It was not possible to extract all refugees guest nights and some stays are included in the statistics. For accommodation establishments that have more than 25 guest nights from Ukraine during the month, the guest nights have been removed from the statistic. Establishments that are exclusively hosting refugees are not included in the statistics.
In January 2024 three existing counties became seven new ones, and now there are 15 counties in Norway. The statistical publication from January 2024 and onward will use the new counties, which were valid from 2024. At the same time, Statistics Norway will cease the publication of "Guest nights so far this year" and the total guest night figures at the municipal level. Due to the changes new tables have been created. Historical data back to 2016 are republished to conform to the new counties. At the same time, Statistics Norway has published new tables with annual figures.