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Ralph Jennings

As Norwegian World Cup footballer Erling Haaland’s herbal drink advertising blitz captivates millions, his home country has emerged as a popular destination for Chinese travellers.
An increasing number of Chinese citizens have visited Norway over the past two years, with interest surging during this summer’s international football competition.
The draw was largely Norway’s scenic allure, but in recent weeks Haaland’s social-media stagecraft had amplified the appeal, tourism professionals said.
“Haaland’s popularity appears to have increased Chinese interest in Norway, particularly among younger travellers and football fans,” said Subramania Bhatt, CEO of marketing and technology firm China Trading Desk.
The sparsely populated Nordic country recorded about 392,000 overnight stays from China last year and nearly 220,000 in 2024, more than double the 2023 total, according to statistics compiled by the trade representative office Innovation Norway.
China ranked as the Scandinavian country’s second-largest source of non-European inbound tourists last year, behind only the United States.
Through May this year, Norway logged 134,880 overnight stays by Chinese citizens, a 23 per cent increase over the same period in 2025, according to Innovation Norway data, pointing to a recovery to the pre-pandemic 2019 level of 472,000 by year’s end.

Chinese travellers are seeking experiences beyond the group-tour sightseeing and shopping sprees of the past.
“Norway is particularly well-positioned to meet these expectations,” said Lydia Li, deputy general manager for tourism industry business platform ITB China.
Norway is known in China for its natural landscapes, especially fjords, which neighbouring countries lack.
“Activities such as chasing the northern lights, exploring the Arctic, hiking through fjords, experiencing pristine nature and discovering Nordic culture offer exactly the kind of distinctive experiences that many Chinese travellers are looking for,” Li said.
Helping the cause, in March 2025 the China-based Hainan Airlines resumed three weekly direct flights from Beijing to Oslo after a five-year hiatus.
Social media platforms such as RedNote and WeChat had further inspired travellers to try Norway, Li added.
Wang Ruoshui, a 22-year-old Chinese media worker, visited Norway with two friends to chase experiences she could not find elsewhere. They went dog sledding and whale watching and chased the northern lights.
They picked Norway over other countries offering the aurora borealis displays because social media pointed to more activities and one-of-a-kind views of coastal mountains laced with the country’s famous sea inlets or fjords.

Wang particularly remembered her voyage across a cold sea with mountains rising in the background, yet without the dense coastal populations she would find in China.
“It stunned me because of how peaceful the sense of being out on the water was,” she said.
Haaland’s popularity has helped stoke interest in Norway’s nature and fjords, though it has not visibly increased bookings, Bhatt said.
“It is too early to claim that bookings have risen significantly because of him,” he said. “The immediate impact is more clearly visible at the inspiration and consideration stages.”
The player has racked up millions of followers on Chinese social media thanks to his sense of humour and relentless goal scoring. He is also promoting the popular Chinese herbal drink Walovi.
Chinese online travel platform Fliggy forecast in June that Norway would become one of the top three “long-haul” destinations in the months ahead. Its data showed that “interest” among Chinese travellers had risen by 40 per cent year on year in July, with flight bookings up nearly 70 per cent.
Fliggy is a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the South China Morning Post.
Wang’s group arranged everything, including small group tours, on Norwegian apps. She spent about 2,000 yuan (US$295) for each tour she joined, a rate she found expensive but manageable, and spent about 15,000 yuan for the five-day trip.


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The hulking striker has become a huge star in China during the World Cup, helping his homeland attract a growing wave of tourists


The hulking striker has become a huge star in China during the World Cup, helping his homeland attract a growing wave of tourists.


How World Cup star Haaland helped put Norway on the map with China’s tourists

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The hulking striker has become a huge star in China during the World Cup, helping his homeland attract a growing wave of tourists

The hulking striker has become a huge star in China during the World Cup, helping his homeland attract a growing wave of tourists