Norwegian Air Shuttle AS is opening routes to Bangkok, a fact which may attract more Asian tourists to Norway.
Asian travelers, especially those from China, are likely to account for 90 percent of tickets between the Far East and Europe within 15 years," Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos claims.
Norwegian, Europe's fourth biggest discount airline, will start their routes to Bangkok three times per week in June, and plan to add a second Asian base within five years.
Per-Arne Tuftin in Innovation Norway also feels confident that Norwegian's new route will help increase the number of tourists from Asia. Already, Asians are spending more days on holiday in Norway, with an increase of 62 percent from South Korea, 38 percent from China, and 29 percent from the rest of Asia.
"Asians leave between NOK 2000 and 2500 for every day that they're here, so they spend a lot of money," Tuftin explains. One of their main activities is shopping, which makes Asia an interesting market for Norway to focus on.
While the rest of Europe is suffering from the financial crisis, markets like China, India and Russia have great potential, Tufte says to financial newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.
(Bloomberg/DagensNæringsliv)
Julie Ryland
