*6.1. Campsites and Income*

The results were largely consistent with previous research. This confirmed the assumption that the demand for overnight stays at campsites has a low-income elasticity, unlike other parts of the tourism industry. This seems to be the situation in many countries. In an analysis of the tourism industry between 2000 and 2015, Guzman-Parra et al. (2015) observed that there was a significant increase in hotel and rural accommodation, while the number of overnight stays at campsites was stable during this period. This was in accordance with the tendency in Norway (see Figure 3). The regression model showed no correlation between the increase in income in Germany over the past two decades and the use of campsites. Coefficient B was close to zero and was not significant. One interpretation is that the demand for Norwegian campsites among German visitors is independent of the income for this period. For Swedish visitors, on the other hand, the link between income and the use of Norwegian campsites was significant, but the coefficient was small (under 0.6). This means that an increase in income of ten percent will increase the demand for overnight stays at campsites by less than six percent. The demand was inelastic. The reason for the low-income elasticity was presumably that higher incomes lead to more tourists wanting greater comfort than campsites can offer. Campsites are being replaced by more luxurious accommodation options (see Brox and Kumar (1997)).

To counteract the loss of customers, many Norwegian campsites are investing in resources to increase the comfort level (more cabins, leisure facilities, sanitary conditions) to attract more campers. This is in accordance with the observation of Grzinic et al. (2010). This effect may help explain why the income elasticity was not negative. A negative income elasticity has been reported in the United States Rice et al. (2019) and may also apply in Norway. Camping is still mostly low-budget tourism. Therefore, an increase in income in wealthy countries will have little impact on demand. In Australia and New Zealand, there has for example been a substantial increase in the use of caravans and campers, which can offer greater comfort Collins et al. (2018).
