Sunny July sets a record in guest nights

The increase in number of guest nights was 1.2 per cent in July 2018 compared with July 2017. The increase was mainly due to an increase of nearly 60 000 guest nights in hotels, a rise of 1.9 per cent, according to the accommodation statistics.

In July, there were 2.6 million guest nights in camping sites, an increase of 1.9 per cent compared to the same month the year before. The number of guest nights for visitors from foreign countries increased in holiday dwellings by 6.2 per cent, but due to a decrease by Norwegian residents of 18 per cent, total number of guest nights at holiday dwellings declined by 7 per cent.

Rise in revenue per available room

The average price for hotel rooms in Norway increased by 3.7 compared to July in 2017. Following the increase in both guest nights and average price, the total sales for guest nights increased by 4.7 per cent. The revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased by 2.5 per cent to NOK 612. This is the highest figure registered since the start of the accommodation statistics. Measured in RevPAR, Oslo, Hedmark and Vest-Agder were the counties that experienced the highest percentage increase, while Trøndelag and Finnmark saw the largest decline.

Increased share of guest nights at camping sites

In July 2018, the share of total guest nights at camping sites was 42 per cent of the total guest nights in Norway, which is an increase from last year. In addition, the share for camping sites saw a strong increase from this year’s June, which indicates that camping sites are a popular means of accommodation for the holiday month of July.

The increase in guest nights at camping sites is due to an increase in guest nights in campers. Guest nights in campers increased by 18 per cent, where the counties Buskerud and Trøndelag saw the sharpest increase by 90 and 65 per cent. This is a reflection of the fact that the number of registered campers has doubled over the last 10 years.