Nature is something of a national obsession in Norway: Norwegian children are taught that “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing,” and Norwegian babies are dressed in winter coats and overalls and taken on day trips into the forest. Cross-country skiing, picking wild mushrooms and cloudberries, and mountain climbing are staple weekend activities.
The recent decision to cancel a campaign aimed at attracting more foreign tourists to Norway’s idyllic countryside is a stark reminder of this: rather than encouraging tourists and the revenue they bring, many Norwegians would rather protect their country’s natural environment.
Norway has such beautiful scenery, including the Lofoten archipelago – a stunning island chain where you can see the Northern Lights in winter and the midnight sun in summer – and some breathtaking fjords, so it’s no wonder tourism numbers have skyrocketed in recent years.
The Lofoten Islands, for example, are seeing a 15% increase in tourists from 2022 to 2023. And the number of vehicles on the roads in the region hit a record high this summer, as many Europeans drove to Norway. Another factor in the tourist explosion is the newly launched direct flights from Western European cities such as London and Amsterdam to nearby Tromsø, the “Paris of the North.” Visits to Norway from the United States and other European countries are also cheaper than before due to a drop in currency rates. Norway has enough cool, rainy days to satisfy those tired of heatwaves, and enough remote and sparsely populated landscapes to escape the crowds in other parts of Europe. While other tourist destinations have imposed measures on tourists after their arrival, such as Venice’s 5-euro “tourist tax,” it is highly unlikely that Norway will do anything like that. Norway’s approach is to discourage them from coming by cutting funding for tourism advertising and secretly shelving campaigns, as the Western Norway Tourist Board has done.
Nature and outdoor activities are needed to escape the cold, harsh and unforgivingly dark winters. Winter lasts for about six months a year, with only five to six hours of daylight in the Southern Hemisphere and polar night in the Northern Hemisphere, where the sun never rises above the horizon for months. Slaloming down snowy slopes or cross-country skiing through forests is far better than being stuck at home. But tourism makes this difficult. Look at the Alps to see how tourism leads to overcrowded villages, traffic jams and dilapidated hiking trails and ski slopes.
“It may not be Norwegian to charge a ticket to visit a place like the magnificent Pulpit Rock.” Photo: Alamy
There are growing concerns that Norway’s natural landscapes are becoming overcrowded and overused, especially since much of the country is free to roam thanks to centuries of tradition and a law called “Allemanslätten” (literally “everyone has property”). This means that anyone has the right to roam freely in the wilderness and set up camp, even if the land has an owner. As long as your camp is set up 150 metres away from any house or hut, and for a maximum of two days, you can usually pitch your tent wherever you like.
There’s another unique tradition managed by the Norwegian Tourist Association, which offers its members the use of hundreds of small huts for almost free (around £20 a night). These are simple wooden huts in remote and beautiful locations, most with outdoor toilets and no heating or running water. The huts are well looked after and loved because visitors must “leave them as they found them” – that means keeping them clean and repairing anything they break. Foreigners can apply for membership and use the huts, but the association told me they’ve made a deliberate decision not to advertise this fact internationally.
Norway has a low pain threshold for tourists. It may be lower than in other countries where tourism is an important source of national income. One reason is that Norway has the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, so it can afford to miss out on potential tourism revenue. One can also point out the irony that Norway is obsessed with protecting its forests and mountains, even though it is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter and a major contributor to global warming. In this sense, the recent cancellation of the campaign points to a deeper problem: Norway and Norwegians are struggling with the dilemma of struggling to protect nature while maintaining their privileges that are derived mainly from fossil fuels.
While one might think that there is a hint of racism or nationalism in Norway’s strong desire to protect nature and heritage, I would argue that what matters is not where tourists come from, but whether they respect nature and local traditions.
Love of the outdoors is almost a religion for many Norwegians. So much so that they cannot afford to interfere with nature when trying to adapt to the climate crisis. For example, Norwegian authorities have been trying to build onshore wind farms around the country for years now to produce more green energy. However, these plans have faced resistance from local residents who object to the damage these structures would cause to the natural environment.
In the long run, it may become harder to say no to tourists. Norway suffers from high inflation, high interest rates and a collapsing currency exchange rate. Economic inequality and social injustice permeate one of the world’s most successful welfare states, affecting the underprivileged, the sick and the poor. One in ten Norwegian children grows up in poverty, many of them from immigrant families. A booming tourism industry could be a way to wean the country off fossil fuels and secure a much-needed source of income.
But there is still time to take measures to welcome tourists and protect the natural environment at the same time. Tourists need clearer signage, guidelines and guides on how to protect themselves and the natural environment. Proper infrastructure needs to be put in place that doesn’t overwhelm the natural environment, and stricter regulations are needed in places like the west coast city of Bergen, where up to 8,000 cruise ship tourists per day can land.
It may not be Norwegian to charge an entrance fee to visit sites like the spectacular Pulpit Rock, but it is Norwegian to try to regulate the numbers of tourists in the country.
