Ferðavenjur Íslendinga - 01.02.1998, Qupperneq 27

Ferðavenjur íslendinga 1996
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while in the same season the proportion of overnight stays for
the age group 16-24 years was 53% and proportion of trips
was 66%. Children, therefore, took longer trips in the sum-
mertime than people between 16 and 24 years of age. Figure
3 shows that in summer the percentage of ovemight stays for
all age groups was generally higher than the percentage of
trips, except for the age group 16-24 years. In other seasons
the proportion of trips was usually higher than that of over-
night stays.
Oft the total number of domestic trips, 77% were short
ones lasting 1-3 nights, while 17% of them took 4-7 nights.
The length of stay was similar for all age groups. Summary
5 provides a more detailed look at length of stay in domestic
trips.
By far the most common means of transport on domestic
trips was the private car, used in 82% of all trips as compared
with 8% by aircraft. People in the age group 16-24 years
stand somewhat apart in their choice of transport means; they
made use of private cars in 68% of their trips, which is a lower
proportion than for other age groups. The most frequently
selected means of transport in this age group were coaches
and aircraft. A further description of means of transport is
found in Summary 6.
The most popular destination of domestic tourists was
without question the southem region of Iceland, attracting
almost 30% of all trips. The second most frequented desti-
nation was the western region, with 17%. The southem and
westem regions include the greatest concentration of private
summer houses and other holiday dwellings, which is the
most likely explanation for the popularity of these destina-
tions. There was very little difference in the choice of
destination with regard to age. Still, in every fifth trip made
by people in the age groups 25-64 the destination was the
capital region, a somewhat higher ratio than for the remain-
ing age groups. In the oldest age group the ratio of trips to the
southern region stands out as the highest, or 45%, while trips
to other regions are correspondingly less frequent.
Overnight stays are divided between destinations in ap-
proximately the same proportion as the number of trips
although there is a slight difference. In this respect Figure 4
provides a good illustration, showing how the proportion of
ovemight stays in the southem and westem regions is strik-
ingly below the percentage of trips. In the Westfjords region
and the eastem region, however, the picture is reversed and
the number of overnight stays is proportionately higher than
the number of trips. Looking at the different age groups,
children and younger people took proportionate most of their
trips to the western region, or 15-18% of the total, while the
ratio of their overnight stays in this region ranged between
10% to 15%. A similar picture emerges in the older age
groups, aged 45-74 years, only with the southem region as
their destination. The age group 45-64 took 37% of their
trips to the southern region but spent only 30% of their
overnight stays there, and for the age group 65-74 these
ratios were 45% and 38% respectively
The choice of accommodation varies greatly depending on
age. It was quite common for children and younger people
to visit friends and relatives and stay there for proportionately
longer periods than in other types of accommodation. Thus
38% of children’s trips and 46% of their ovemight stays were
of this kind, and in the age group 16-24 these figures were
48% and 58% respectively. To a certain extent the latter age
group stands apart in their choice of accommodation, some-
thing that is presumably due to the fact that this age group
includes a large number of students visiting their relatives in
their school vacations. Apart from the accommodation
patterns of children, it is apparent that the popularity of
holiday dwellings (houses) increases with higher age; 18% of
all trips made by people aged 16-24 were to holiday dwell-
ings as compared with 58% of all trips made by those aged
65-74 years.
It comes as no surprise that the older people preferred
hotels and guesthouses to a larger extent than younger
people, and the opposite applies to camping sites. Children
and people under the age of 45 made use of camping sites in
13-14% of their trips while older people did so less fre-
quently.
Outbound trips
Outbound trips differ in many respects from domestic ones.
They usually last a good deal longer in terms of overnight
stays and the most common type of accommodation is hotels
and guesthouses. Furthermore, travel agencies are very often
consulted when people plan their outbound trips. The follow-
ing summaries, 10-16, describe the findings of the survey
regarding outbound trips.
There were 157 thousand outbound trips and 1.8 million
overnight stays in 1996. The number of trips on one hand and
the number of overnight stays on the other were somewhat
unevenly distributed within the different age groups. Chil-
dren, for instance, took 16 thousand trips, or 10% of all
outbound trips, while spending 290 thousand ovemight stays
abroad, which amounts to 16% of all ovemight stays spent on
outbound trips by Icelandic tourists. When it comes to the
age group 16-64, however, the picture is reversed. The
greatest discrepancy between trips and overnight stays is
found in the age group 25^14 years; they made 63 thousand
trips, or 40% of the total outbound trips, but spent 624
thousand overnight stays abroad, or only 34% of the total.
Outbound trips by children are limited mostly to the
summer season. As people grow older their trips tend to
spread over the whole year to a greater extent, and for those
aged 65-74 the trips are divided equally between the three
four-month periods. Overnight stays were proportionately
more numerous than trips during summer for all age groups
except for 65-74-year-olds, a fact that indicates longer stays
on trips taken in summer than during the rest of the year.
Of all outbound trips 94% of them lasted less than one
month. Length of stay, however, varies greatly between
different age groups as shown in Figure 6. Over half of the
trips by 65-74-year-olds lasted less than 29 overnight stays
whereas 81% of trips by the age group 25^4-4 were shorter
than this. Children’s trip lasted in 47% of the cases 15-28
nights while in other age groups this length of stay was
considerably less frequent.
The choice of destination varied considerably with age
although tourism pattems of people aged 25-44 and 45-64
were quite similar. Almost 25% of all outbound trips were to