Analysis from bank and financial services group DNB has revealed which parts of Norway have attracted residents of the country for their holidays.
The most popular counties for domestic holidays in Norway this summer are Møre og Romsdal, Nordland, Trøndelag and Vestland.
The analysis is based on bank card use between the end of June and the beginning of July.
Municipalities in these counties accounted for 26 out of the 30 areas to receive the biggest boost to tourism income, with some seeing turnover from tourists increase by over 200 percent since 2019.
Norwegians choose to vacation in these counties because of a mix of nature, plenty of activities and, for the most part, because they are off the beaten path, an analyst said.
“We see that the travel pattern changed a bit. Last year we took a ‘grand tour’ of Norway, with typical tourist places and holiday gems that people should tick off the list. This year, there are also nearby areas and some less well-known places that are increasing greatly in popularity,” Ine Oftedahl, director of data transformation at DNB, told state finance news media e24.
DNB gave Stranda, home to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Geiranger Fjord, the unofficial title of the number one tourist municipality in Norway.
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Stryn, Værøy, Leka, Stranda, Bremanger, Austevoll, Snåsa, Rødøy, Gjemmes and Rauma were the ten municipalities to receive the biggest boost from domestic holiday goers. All ten are located in Western Norway, Central Norway, or slightly further north in Nordland.
The hotspots have all seen an increase of between 150 and 230 percent increase to their turnover from tourists.
This has been a lifeline for many of the municipalities. For example, in Stranda, tourists account for almost nine out of ten kroner of the turnover in the municipality.
“The fact that Norwegians actually choose to spend their holidays in their own country and do not sit at home and wait until the next time they are allowed to go abroad is a lifebuoy for many of these municipalities,” Oftedahl said
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Monja Mjelva, from the Hotel Union in Geiranger, is delighted that so many Norwegians are choosing to take their holidays at home.
“It is very nice that Norwegian tourists are also finding their way to Geiranger and get to experience the UNESCO area that belongs to all of us in Norway,” she told state broadcaster NRK.
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