Overnight stays in Longyearbyen

Last updated 7 April 2025

The number of annual overnight stays in public accommodation in Longyearbyen shows the attraction of Svalbard as a travel destination and gives an indication of what impact the natural and cultural environment in Longyearbyen and its vicinity (day trip areas) may be exposed to. There is also a link between the number of overnight stays and the scale of sightseeing excursions, organised trips and non-organised outdoor recreation using Longyearbyen as a base.

Status and trend

The number of overnight stays in Longyearbyen has increased with nearly a five-fold from 1995 to the present. The development was relatively steady during 1995-2012, with a preliminary peak in 2008 that reached 92,000 overnight stays. There was a clear upswing in 2013, followed by stronger annual increases than in previous years. In the peak year of the time series, 2019, there were nearly 167,000 overnight stays in total. The low numbers in 2020 and 2021 are due to the coronavirus pandemic. The numbers in 2022 and 2023 are slightly lower than before the pandemic, but there were nearly as many overnight stays in 2024 as in 2019.

The largest increase of overnight stays is linked to holiday and leisure travel. In this segment, the number of overnight stays has nearly tripled during the past twelve years, from approx. 50,000 in 2012 to approx. 148,000 in 2024. The number of overnight stays connected to courses/conferences increased by more than eight-fold from 1995 to the peak year in 2017. This number decreased markedly since 2018, with a preliminary low in 2022 (disregarding the pandemic). Throughout the timeseries, overnight stays associated with business trips have varied less than the two other segments. Initially, the numbers in this segment increased from 1995 to the peak year in 2005. Since then, the numbers in general have gradually decreased, with some exceptions. For example, in 2018 when there was a lot of building activities in Longyearbyen. In 2022 only 1694 overnight stays were associated with business trips, which is the lowest number registered in this segment since 1995 (disregarding the numbers from the coronavirus pandemic year 2020).

The measures linked to the coronavirus pandemic substantially reduced the number of overnight stays from March 2020 onwards. For a while, virtually no visitors came to Svalbard. The majority of overnight stays this year occurred in January and February, before the pandemic struck, as well as from early June 2020 through much of the summer. Nevertheless, the figures for overnight stays were also low during this period due to the cancellation of many organised trips. The overall decrease from 2019 to 2020 was 59%. In terms of percentages, the decrease was greatest in the course/conference segments and for professional travel, which saw decreases of 78% and 88% respectively. Nevertheless, the largest decline in terms of numbers, was linked to holiday and leisure travel, which recorded more than 80,000 fewer overnight stays than the previous year.

Causal factors

Many factors will influence the number of overnight stays in Longyearbyen. It is assumed that the single most important factor is the number of flights between the mainland and Longyearbyen. The expansion of accommodation in Longyearbyen also had a great deal to say, but marketing, excursion offers and the economic situation for firms and private customers have also affected the trend. The efforts of the tourism industry in Svalbard to promote the Polar night have resulted in more guests and a higher occupancy rate at this time of year, from October to February.

In 2013, the airliner Norwegian resumed non-stop flights from Oslo, which have a great deal to say for the number of overnight stays. The financial crisis in Europe in 2008–2009 probably influenced the holiday and leisure segment. In 2023, the cost of living in Norway affected the number of Norwegian tourists in Svalbard correspondingly.

For courses and conferences, there was a marked decline in the number of overnight stays in 2019 and following years. The costs of flights and accommodation in Longyearbyen may have contributed to this.

As regards journeys connected with work and business, the financial situation for firms has some effect, but also the scale of construction and commercial activities in Longyearbyen. Major new developments in the last 15–20 years also have affected the number of overnight stays since quite a few of the construction workers stayed at hotels. Work due to landslides, relocation and  construction of new houses has had an impact in recent years.

The number of overnight stays has risen considerably in recent years, due to the opening of several new accommodation facilities. Accommodation capacity in Longyearbyen as of March 2024 is stated to be 488 rooms, with a total bed capacity of 1029.

Consequences

The number of overnight stays in Longyearbyen is obviously decisive for the firms offering overnight accommodation, but it also has spin-off benefits for the rest of the business community:

• shops of all types
• operators who sell excursions of varying duration
• transport industry
• hospitality industry
• museums
• galleries
• etc.

Depending on what the overnight guests do, they may impact the natural environment. Everyone who visits Svalbard arrives by plane or ship. More traffic will mean higher discharges of greenhouse gases.

About the monitoring

It is essential to monitor the number of overnight stays in Longyearbyen as this gives an indication of the expected effect on the environment and cultural heritage sites and monuments in Longyearbyen and its close vicinity (areas available for day-trips).

Together with other monitoring series on the actual effects of activities, it is possible to establish the causation of human effects on the environment in Longyearbyen and its surroundings.