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TRAVEL RECOMMENDATIONS CONTINUE: Currently, it is not possible to travel on vacation trips outside the North before August 20. Illustration. Photo: Mona Langset
With vacation trips canceled until the end of August, Virke tourism has feared the industry will face a bankruptcy race.
“The Foreign Ministry maintains current travel advice that discourages any travel that is not strictly necessary,” Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide said today at a press conference.
Current travel restrictions will initially last until August 20. By June 15, it will be considered whether one can travel to the Nordic countries. By July 20, they are considering opening it in some nearby European countries as well.
– For Norwegian tourism it is a dramatic situation. It’s a fateful summer, “says Helge Otto Mathisen, executive vice president of communications and community relations at Color Line.
There will be a previous opening for Germany
– We started planning to open departures to Sweden and Denmark from June 15. It is also likely to open to Germany from July 20,
Mathisen says they could have saved huge incomes if they had also been opened for travel to Germany at the same time as the Nordic countries.
– Foreign visitors represent 55 billion in revenue. 50 percent of them come from the Nordic countries and Germany. If you included Germany in the Nordic countries, you could have saved up to 12 billion, he says.
– I do not understand that Germany is not included in the Nordic countries, nor do we see that there are reasons for the prevention of infections.
– Many small players
Mathisen believes that it is not just a risk of many bankruptcies.
– What is also a challenge is that tourism consists of many small players. If a small adventure business goes bankrupt, then the entire value creation chain moves. A tour of Norway that we sell with experiences. It is dramatic.
For Color Line, they have an ambition to be strong on the other side.
– We are the greatest player. The positive is that we now have some dates to try. We have prepared infection control counselors who are very strict and very good. We respect the danger of infection, he says.
Norwegian tourists cannot make up for the losses.
– Today’s government message means more canceled trips, and the reimbursement requirements of tour package operators are increasing. Furthermore, when the government does not want to provide tour operators with a compensation plan that can help them overcome this crisis, it actually means that most tour operators have no chance. Not because of the crown, but because of the way the government handles the situation. We are facing a bankruptcy career, says Astrid Bergmål, director of Virke Reiseliv, in a press release.
Virke said that more Norwegians can come up with vacation plans in Norway will not be enough.
– The fact that the government encourages holidays in Norway is good and good, but Norwegian tourists in their own country can never make up for the loss of foreign tourists, says Bergmål.
– Summer traffic is lost anyway
John Eckhoff, the SAS press officer, understands that this is a global situation, but hoped that the opening would have taken place faster.
– Summer traffic for us is lost anyway. We have good capacity, and we will put planes in as soon as the market allows, Eckhoff.
People still book trips for fall
Nora Aspengren, director of communications for package travel provider Tui, says they want to tailor their offering to the new travel tips.
– Some trips have been sold this summer, but most of the reserved ones have been changed or canceled, she says.
Tui still receives orders for after the summer break, and believes in a positive trend from travel restrictions.
– We see that some people reserve trips for autumn or winter. People are eager to travel, she says.
