Norwegians like to travel − Economic growth led to strong growth in demand for travel and tourism products. Norwegians more likely to take overnight trips than average European (Innovation Norway and EU) Outbound travel increasing − Domestic travel accounts for two-thirds of trips but past decade seen domestic travel decline and outbound travel rise, largely explained by high costs of travel in Norway (VisitNorway and Statistics Norway) Valuable market − Norwegians spent more than $16bn on foreign travel in 2011, making it world’s 19th most valuable source market despite population of just under five million (UNWTO) Visits to and spend in Britain at record levels − In 2011, Britain welcomed 739,000 visitors from Norway spending £523m in total, record levels for volume and value. Each visit generated well above average spend per night (IPS) Familiarity with English language and trade links − Norwegian children taught English from nine years old and strong English influences in media. Strong trade links to UK, in particular oil and energy