Lofoten and the Helgeland coast are favorite destinations among Norwegian and foreign tourists during the summer holidays. Therefore, many feared that there would be complete chaos when the government decided that 61 ferry connections would not cost people a penny. In some places, champagne was celebrated, and several tourist destinations arranged for extra visitors this year. – We were excited, because we have had a lot of tourist pressure in recent years. With a free ferry, we thought there would be even greater demand, says county councilor for transport and infrastructure in Nordland, Monica Sande (Sp). So it didn’t turn out that way. Sharp decline Compared to the last normal year, 2019, the number of vehicles on board the ferries in Nordland fell by 11.5 per cent in July. This provided that the preliminary figures from the Norwegian Road Administration are correct. Converted into the number of vehicles, the figure is around 50,000. Ferry passenger Sigmund Solberg is one of those who benefit from the offer at the ferry quay in Svolvær. – It was a great bonus to get a free ferry. I think it is very important, because you get to experience the whole of Lofoten in a cheaper way. Jon Stueflotten, who stood in the ferry queue in Svolvær, has one theory as to why there hasn’t been as much traffic as they might have thought. – It’s probably not that well known yet, and you also don’t know which ferries are free. So it might be a bit new. Blame the weather Also in the ferry counties of Møre and Romsdal and Rogaland, they experience a decrease of 1.8 and 23 per cent respectively. In Vestland, traffic has increased by 3 per cent. Monica Sande believes that the weather must take much of the blame for the somewhat surprising decline. – Much of the reason is probably that we have had a lot of bad weather in Nordland this year. Motorhome tourists and car tourists often drive to places with good weather, and Nordland has probably not been at the top of that list this year. Southern trips are probably also something that has been extra tempting in a corona-free year, believes Sande. – Many have probably taken advantage of it, when it is finally possible to travel abroad. Now she hopes that next year will be more positive for tourist-loving northerners. – I hope that there will be even more free ferries, because this is not just for tourists, but mostly for those who are permanent residents. When we’ve had a bad summer now, we’ll probably have a good summer next year. Then we need a good offer, both for tourists and locals.
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Introduced a free ferry in Nordland but traffic decreased – news Nordland
