Hard April for tourism

Published:

Statistics Norway recorded the lowest number of guest nights since records on accommodation statistics began in 1985. 8 out of 10 guest nights disappeared compared to April 2019.

Written by: Kristin Aasestad

Figures from the Accommodation statistics shows there were approximately 330 000 guest nights at commercial accommodation establishments in April, an 84 per cent decrease compared to April 2019. 

Measures introduced to prevent the spread of the coronavirus had dramatic consequences on commercial accommodation establishments. There was an 87 per cent decrease in guest nights at hotels in April compared with the previous year. Guest nights at camping sites decreased by 73 per cent while holiday dwellings and youth hostels decreased by 81 per cent.

Figure 1. Guest nights, by type of accommodation, April. 2005-2020

April 2005 April 2006 April 2007 April 2008 April 2009 April 2010 April 2011 April 2012 April 2013 April 2014 April 2015 April 2016 April 2017 April 2018 April 2019 April 2020
Hotels 1176809 1177693 1196441 1314619 1141367 1231740 1258892 1255167 1465610 1295805 1422999 1566164 1481209 1620783 1607686 216200
Camping sites 219890 318270 345469 271790 372650 350238 367069 341668 289696 320641 290574 218031 263155 218640 298305 79209
Holiday dwellings and youth hostels 90020 136796 134210 105593 144009 141145 114512 125098 175093 197956 210456 201653 207106 169867 188741 35668

Decrease at hotels

Many accommodation establishments remained closed in April. The number of open accommodation establishments were approximately 20 per cent lower in April 2020 compared to April 2019.

Larger share for camping sites

Guest nights at camping sites decreased the least and therefore took a larger share of all guest nights at commercial establishments compared to April last year.

Increased uncertainty for April

Due to closed guest establishments and layoffs, the response rate is lower than usual this month. The response rate for April 2020 was 89 per cent, compared to 98 per cent in April 2019. This causes more uncertainty in the figures. Significant effort has been put into determining whether non-reporting establishments were closed or open. Establishments were treated as open where we did not get a response, with estimated values, leading to increased uncertainty. This approach is in line with recommendations from both Eurostat and OECD.

It is important that all countries agree on a standard during this pandemic to ensure comparability between countries. This is how we usually treat unreported establishments, but can lead to publishing of numbers that are somewhat higher than in reality.

 

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