Almost 60 per cent fewer guest nights in January

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The downward trend for accommodation establishments in Norway continued in January. Guest nights at hotels fell by 64 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Written by: Kristin Aasestad

Figures from the accommodation statistics show that there were approximately 0.8 million guest nights at commercial accommodation establishments in January this year. This is 1.1 million fewer guest nights than in January last year. Norwegian guest nights declined by 52 per cent, while foreign guest nights declined by 75 per cent. Guest nights at camping sites and holiday dwellings and youth hostels fell by 6.8 and 40 per cent respectively.

Norway’s already tough travel restrictions were tightened further in January, restricting both travel into the country and between municipalities. All travellers into Norway were required to quarantine for 10 days, with regulations on the use of quarantine hotels upon entry. See government webpage for more information.

Figure 1. Guest nights, by type of accommodation. Per cent change compared to the same month the year before

Jun.19 Jul.19 Aug.19 Sep.19 Oct.19 Nov.19 Dec.19 Jan.20 Feb.20 Mar.20 Apr.20 May.20 Jun.20 Jul.20 Aug.20 Sep.20 Oct.20 Nov.20 Dec.20 Jan.21
Hotels 4.46 6.02 5.58 5.14 9.74 7.50 10.20 8.88 11.68 -57.02 -86.55 -77.60 -55.96 -8.95 -41.14 -42.28 -37.81 -61.77 -54.60 -64.16
Camping sites -1.05 3.88 5.75 0.82 5.50 -0.42 15.76 12.35 10.87 -40.65 -73.45 -7.59 -19.65 4.70 -4.62 -6.45 4.06 -13.87 -8.53 -6.81
Holiday dwellings and youth hostels -2.25 -1.50 0.97 1.31 10.31 9.12 13.29 11.24 25.80 -43.54 -81.10 -63.85 -53.98 -6.59 -27.80 -6.52 -6.21 -4.15 -21.64 -39.69

 

Hotels in Oslo most affected

There were approximately 570 000 guest nights at Norwegian hotels in January 2021. This represents a 64 per cent decline compared to January last year. Oslo county had the largest decline.

The top four tourism regions in terms of guest nights, Oslo, Bergensregion , Stavangerregion and Romerike accounted for almost 40 per cent of all guest nights at hotels in January this year.

Few guest nights at intermediaries of holiday homes

There were 25 000 guest nights arranged through intermediaries of holiday homes in January. This was 84 per cent decline compared to January 2020.

Less decline in Norway than rest of Europe in 2020

Preliminary figures from Eurostat show that guest nights in the 27 EU countries fell by 52 per cent from 2019 to 2020. Guest nights in Norway fell by 33 per cent in the same time period.

Eurostat has an overview of important short term indicators and their development during the pandemic.

Quarantine hotels

In order to limit import infection, the Government introduced a quarantine hotel scheme on 5 November 2020. Guidelines affecting quarantine hotels were changed on 13 December. All persons arriving in Norway had to undergo a 10 day quarantine. For more information, see the governments’ webpage.

It was not possible to extract all quarantine guest nights. Guest nights spent at quarantine hotels are therefore partially included in the accommodation statistics for January. Hotels exclusively used as quarantine hotels were not included in the statistics for this month. Guests under quarantine cannot freely move outside designated areas and cannot therefore be assigned by purpose as holiday, occupation or course, conference. This is in line with other European countries’ treatment of such hotels.

Accommodation statistics expanded

As from the January 2021 publication, the accommodation statistics will include Norwegian and foreign guest nights at private homes arranged by Norwegian intermediaries (formerly intermediaries of cabins). This addition contributes to a more complete picture of Norwegian accommodation.

Statistics Norway will also start publishing figures for the commercial accommodation establishments on tourism regions, in addition to counties and municipalities. See more information regarding tourism regions.

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