Outbound tourism from Thailand to Norway is booming and 2025 has been the best year ever, especially in April and October when the room night figures exceeded 10,000. Thai tourists typically visit the western fjords in addition to Oslo and Bergen and also North Cape which H.M. King Chulalongkorn visited in 1907. Outbound tourism from Thailand increased to 12.5 million in 2025 due to continuous competitive promotion campaigns from destination marketing companies, tour companies, airlines, hotels, banks and credit card issuers. The traditional peak season for Thai tourists to Norway is during the Thai school breaks, typically in April and October, but we have seen a shift whereby winter now accounts for close to 30% of the outbound tourism volume to Norway. The main reason for this shift is mainly Aurora hunting, but also other winter activities are becoming popular. Through our networks, we can help linking you to the decision makers in the region. Finally, take note of the fact that Thai tourists are avid shoppers. Global Blue Norway in 2016, ranked Thailand in fifth place after China, USA, UK and Germany of all countries worldwide in VAT refunds through the company. Since then, new players have entered the VAT refund market, but as the Norwegian customs authorities do not release figures on VAT refunds for non-residents, it is not possible to determine where Thailand is placed in comparison to other countries. Nevertheless, one can still be pretty sure that it’s the affluent part of the population which travel as tourists to Scandinavia. They bring back more than beautiful photographs and wonderful holiday memories.
