Norway

Norway

The International Passenger Survey (IPS) was suspended on 16 March 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic until the start of 2021. The ONS have made every effort to produce high-quality estimates for the periods when IPS data is not being collected but have not been able to produce a full set of results. See the 2020 inbound page for more information. Data for 2021 and 2022 was also impacted by COVID-19, more information can be found on the About IPS page.

Due to the above, the latest full year IPS data below is from 2019. You can access data detailed data from 2020 onwards on the latest annual page.

Visitor characteristics

  • There are considerably more male than female visitors from Norway for business trips
  • 49% of all visitor spend comes courtesy of visiting for a holiday
  • More than four-in-five holiday visitors from Norway are making a repeat trip to Britain (excluding British nationals)
  • 99% of departing visitors say they were made to feel either 'welcome' or ‘very welcome' in Britain

Popular activities

Dining in a restaurant

Visited a Pub

Went Shopping

Global context

Measure2022
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)14.0
Global rank for international tourism expenditure20
Number of outbound visits (m)8.1
Most visited destinationSweden

Key demographic and economic data

Measure2022
Population (m)5.5
GDP per capita PPP (US$)78,142
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)1.7
Annual GDP growth (%)3.2

Inbound visits to Britain from Norway

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Number of visits

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Total expenditure (GBP)

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Total nights spent

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Average length of stay (Nights)

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Average spend per visit (GBP)

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What Norwegians think about Britain

  • The cultural product or service that Norwegians most highly associate with being produced in Britain is pop videos
  • 38% believe that a potential visit to Britain would be ‘exciting’
  • While highly associated with culture and heritage attributes, France is more closely linked with such measures than is Britain
  • Britain is more strongly associated with the statement ‘is good for High Street shopping’ than are leading competitors
  • Britain is not seen as a ‘romantic’ or ‘luxurious’ destination by Norwegians
  • One-in-four are keen on the idea of watching an English Premier League football match
  • Leading competitor destinations are more closely associated with the statement ‘food and drink is good value for money’ than is Britain
  • However, a week long holiday in Britain is expected to be less expensive than an equivalent holiday in leading competitor destinations such as France and Italy

Caring for visitors

  • Norwegians are very familiar with British culture, in particular Premier League football and British TV programmes
  • Cleanliness in accommodation is of importance to visitors from Norway
  • While there are many regional dialects in Norway, English is widely understood
  • Visitors from Norway are more likely than average to use a credit card while in Britain

The leisure & travel trade

  • The Norwegian trade can be roughly split into four categories of charter operators, business travel/MICE, online operators and retail travel agents with many companies offering a mix of the four services
  • The key centres for the travel trade are Oslo, Stavanger, Bergen and Trondheim
  • There is no distinct planning cycle so it is possible to do business year-round

Access to Britain from Norway

Measure2023
Weekly aircraft departures201
Weekly seat capacity31,086
Airports with direct routes in Norway6
Airports with direct routes in Britain10
  • Virtually all visits to Britain are by air
  • The bulk of airline seat capacity is from Oslo to London although numerous airports in Scotland and other parts of England also enjoy direct access from Norway
  • In 2023, there are 201 weekly departures with an average seat capacity of 31,086
  • Following the Covid-19 pandemic, scheduled seat capacity on non-stop flights from Norway to the UK has recovered to 93% of 2019 levels in 2023
  • The current rate of Air Passenger Duty for visitors departing Britain for Norway is £13