Guest nights from foreign guests in Northern Norway during winter season have risen by 378 percent since 2006.
That is close to a fourfold increase in ten years. And Northern lights tourists are among the most lucrative tourists visiting Norway.
“We have managed to create growth and demand in a season previously virtually without any tourist demand,” Cathrine Pia Lund in Innovation Norway told Norwegian National Radio Corporation, NRK.
Foreign guest nights in Northern Norway during winter season have risen by 378 percent since 2006. That year Innovation Norway and their partners began marketing the Northern Lights. Tromsoe has experienced the largest increase since 2006, while Finnmark shows the smallest increase in Northern Norway.
“The challenge is to get people to travel further than to Tromsoe. Most people who come from Europe, USA or Asia seems that Tromsoe is far enough to travel, “says CEO Trygve Nygård in tourism company Glød, which offers northern lights hunting.
“Although Finnmark has the smallest increase in volume of the Northern Norwegian counties, it is equally important to have profitable guests, says tourism manager Hilde Bjørkli in North Norwegian tourism.
“Northern lights tourists are definitely lucrative tourists. Winter tourists leave more money per head than the traditional summer tourist, “she says.
Record Number for Northern Lights Tourism, source: NTB