Business and industry in Norway - The travel industries

The travel industries are counted as being some of the largest, fastest-growing industries in the world. The number of people travelling is increasing, the number of guest-nights is constantly rising and the travel companies’ revenues are growing rapidly. To a great extent, this is in line with the growth in the economy, which brings with it greater welfare and more leisure time for large parts of the population. The increased value creation leads to increased travel activity both in the business-travel market and the holiday and leisure-time market.

Travellers want an overall product – an experience. This product is comprised of goods and services produced by many companies in various industries. Parts of the transport industry, the accommodation industry, the restaurant and catering industry and the adventure industry are all counted as travel industries. Travel agents and others that arrange activities and companies that deal in marketing, developing and selling Norwegian travel products are also counted as being travel industries.

The travel industries contain a large share of small and medium-sized companies. Most of these companies are to be found in towns and built-up areas. However, the travel industries are counted as important regional industries because they provide work and revenues to local communities with limited employment opportunities.

The travel market can mainly be split into two: the holiday and leisure-time market and the business-travel market. The travel industries are experiencing considerable international competition, particularly in the holiday and leisure-time market. In the accommodation sector, Norwegians represent the largest individual market, taking up almost 70 per cent of all the commercial guest-nights.

Parts of the travel industry are seasonal, with great fluctuations in demand throughout the year. This is particularly true in the regional areas, which are highly dependent on holiday and leisure-time traffic (more so than the towns).

Tourist attractions and things to do are important driving forces, particularly in the holiday and leisure-time market. Norway’s well-known and well-visited attractions include the Holmenkollen ski-jump, the steep Trollstigen road, the Fløybanen funicular railway, the Tusenfryd amusement park and the North Cape. A well-arranged infrastructure and a well-functioning transport service within and to Norway are prerequisites for making Norwegian travel products available. Although there has been a trend towards the increased use of air travel, road transport still dominates the Norwegian travel industry. Some transport routes, such as the Hurtigruta coastal express steamers and the Flåmsbanen railway, have developed into tourist attractions in themselves.

Significant structural changes have taken place in the travel industries, for example in the direction of larger units through the formation of chains and other types of alliances. Developments in the travel market over the past few years indicate that bigger towns and larger destinations, such as Hemsedal and Trysil, are becoming more important in the holiday and leisure-time market.

The use of information technology (IT) has great consequences for the industries’ structure and competitive features. IT provides particularly great opportunities when it comes to imparting information and marketing, booking and paying for travel services. Much of the work of disseminating information on travel activities is expected to take place over the Internet within a few years’ time.