Only one in 10 travels far at Easter

Fewer people are going away at Easter. Only 10 per cent of the population take a trip on which they are gone at least four nights, while 13 per cent are away for shorter periods. Seventy-seven per cent do not spend any nights away from home during Easter, according to Statistics Norway's holiday survey for 1997.

The low percentage of Easter holidaymakers today contrasts strongly with the mid-1970s, when nearly one in three went away for Easter. The number is also down from 1994, when 13 per cent said they were away more than four nights at Easter.

Those who still go away at Easter mainly travel within the country and then often to the inland mountainous areas of Eastern Norway, where they stay in cabins, driving there and back with their families. The typical Easter tourist is between 25 and 44 years of age, has access to a cabin and lives in Oslo/Akershus or in other major cities and towns. The Easter tourist is also better educated and has a higher household income.

The distribution of Easter-time holidaymakers is highly lopsided among the demographic groups. In households with an income of over NOK 500,000, 18 per cent spent at least four days away from home at Easter in 1997, while the percentage was down to seven per cent in households with an income between NOK 100,000 and 199,000. In Oslo and Akershus, 15 per cent of the population went away for Easter. In Northern Norway the percentage was seven per cent. In households that either own or have access to a cabin or holiday home, 15 per cent went away for Easter, while the percentage in households without cabins was seven per cent.

The tendency to travel at Easter also varies considerably according to education level. Only five per cent of the population with a lower secondary education went away for Easter in 1997. On the other hand, 16 per cent of people with a college education went away for Easter last year.

Holiday survey, 1997.
Statistics are published annually in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and are published later in a separate report. A somewhat more extensive presentation of the Easter holiday is described in the report on the holiday habits of Norwegians. Easter holiday. The report can be obtained from Statistics Norway's web server at http://www.ssb.no. Further results from the 1997 holiday survey will be published separately before summer. For more information, contact: Jan-Erik Lystad, tel. +47 62 88 54 10, e-mail: jan-erik.lystad@ssb.no or Tom Granseth, tel. +47 62 88 54 06, e-mail: tom. granseth@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 14, 1998