Unable to travel abroad this summer, Norwegians like others around the world are preparing for holidays in their own scenic homeland. A new survey shows that the Lofoten islands in Northern Norway are the top destination of choice. The survey, conducted by research firm Norstat for the online travel service Finn reise, showed fully three […]
Corona spoils summer abroad
May 15, 2020
The Norwegian government announced Friday afternoon that it intends to maintain its foreign travel restrictions until August 20. That means thousands of Norwegians will likely need to cancel long-planned summer holidays abroad, if they haven’t already. So much for lazy days on a beach in Thailand, Crete og the Canary Islands: Prime Minister Erna Solberg […]
Hurtigruten demands crisis aid
May 7, 2020
Norway’s venerable coastal voyage line Hurtigruten, now mostly a cruiseline, was sailing full steam ahead until the Corona virus crisis forced most of its vessels into lay-up and cut off revenue. Now it doesn’t qualify for the emergency aid offered by the government, because its credit rating has been severely downgraded. “It’s a paradox that we, […]
Skiers took crisis home from Tyrol
March 22, 2020
It isn’t migrants, refugees or terrorists who ended up posing the biggest threat and bringing the greatest crisis to Norway since World War II. It landed at airports around the country in early March, when more than 500 affluent Norwegians returned from skiing holidays in the Austrian alps of Tyrol and brought the Corona virus […]
Svalbard tourism chills scientists
March 5, 2020
Growing numbers of tourists are leaving a worrisome footprint on Svalbard’s fragile environment, according to the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA). In a new study, NINA proposes tougher regulation of tourism in the Arctic archipelago and of the cruise industry in particular. “The increasing tourism has clear negative effects,” NINA scientist Hogne Øian told […]
Arctic tax break offer sparks interest
January 6, 2020
The mayor of the small town of Bø in Vesterålen, Northern Norway, was in Oslo on Monday to futher promote his local council’s decision to cut fortune taxes as a means of attracting investment. Not as much promotion as he’d thought was needed, though, after a major British paper picked up on the tax break […]
North Cape finally freed for visitors
December 21, 2019
Norwegians and tourists alike have received a surprise Christmas gift, after the county governor of Troms og Finnmark decided that hotel and real estate company Scandic can no longer charge admission fees to Norway’s famed North Cape plateau. The ruling overrides an earlier agreement between Scandic and the local municipal council. High admission fees to […]
Norway rolls up the welcome mat
November 13, 2019
New studies show that a solid majority of Norwegians are fed up with mass tourism and want to impose more taxes on tourists, especially those arriving on cruiseships and arranging accommodation through Airbnb. Now even the national employers’ association NHO is calling for major cuts in cruiseship arrivals. The call comes after this week’s release […]
Woman killed in fall off Hurtigruten ship
October 31, 2019
A woman believed to have been on board a Hurtigruten vessel died on Thursday after reportedly falling off the ship as it was arriving at Ålesund Wednesday evening. Police reported they had no reason to believe there was any criminal activity involved as they continued to investigate how the incident occurred. The woman, whose identity […]
Hotel owner part of group buying Ving
October 30, 2019
Petter Stordalen, Norway’s flamboyant hotel owner and real estate investor, emerged Wednesday as part of a group that’s buying the Ving charter tour group’s operations in the Nordic countries from the bankrupt travel firm Thomas Cook. Stordalen’s Strawberry Group will take over Vinggruppen along with investment funds Altor and TDR Capital. Strawberry and Altor are […]
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