By C. Perera, JadeTimes News
The video’s release coincides with a trend among travelers seeking alternatives to traditional tourist attractions. Increasingly, people are avoiding crowded hotspots and opting for unique experiences over the typical landmarks and social media photo opportunities. This shift is also reflective of local sentiment, as many residents express frustration with mass tourism. For example, Barcelona saw a protester douse visitors with water, while 20,000 people marched in Majorca to protest how tourism has increased rents and altered their community. Similarly, Venice implemented a temporary visitor tax, and Amsterdam announced plans to limit the influx of cruise ship passengers to its city center.
However, Oslo appears to have a different perspective on tourism. August Jorfald, the director and writer of the new film, found inspiration from a trip to Paris with his girlfriend. He shared that his primary goal for the trip was to avoid seeing the Eiffel Tower, emphasizing his preference for authentic experiences over conventional tourist spots. As an Oslo native approaching his 30th birthday, Jorfald echoes the sentiments of many younger travelers who desire vacations different from those of their parents. They are seeking genuine experiences rather than those crafted for tourists. Jorfald explains, "I don’t want the Disney World. I want to be at someone’s kitchen table and drink wine from a milk glass." He also points out the diminishing appeal of taking photos of iconic landmarks like the Tower of Pisa or Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, noting that it feels outdated and uninteresting.
The quest for authenticity is not a new concept. Elena Paschinger, a blogger and publicist, coined the phrase "life seeing instead of sightseeing" in her 2015 book, The Creative Traveler's Handbook. In her global travels, she discovered that mundane activities such as grocery shopping or taking a local train can be fascinating when experienced in a different culture. Paschinger stated, "I’ve always avoided the tourist traps and gone where the locals meet, and where the life was happening. It was more mundane perhaps, but because it was a different culture it was very, very exciting." The recent ad from Oslo taps into similar themes.
Lauren A Siegel, a researcher and tourism lecturer at the University of Greenwich in London, praises the promotion as "brilliant and on trend." She believes it resonates with viewers, particularly from Generation Z, who have become weary of social media’s influence on travel. "It has been around for almost a decade now, and naturally, generations are shifting," Siegel comments. "People are kind of over it." She notes that social media offers a glamorized yet unrealistic view of destinations, leading to a disconnect with the local culture. When tourists focus on capturing moments for social media, they miss out on the authentic experiences around them. Siegel adds, "Instead of looking down at your phone, you're looking back up. It opens up all these great opportunities that we lost. That's a beautiful thing."
This trend towards seeking authentic experiences has been gaining momentum for several years. In 2018, Vienna launched a campaign to combat "Instagram fatigue" by encouraging tourists to "Unhashtag" their vacations and put down their phones. Helena Steinhart, the international media relations manager for the Vienna Tourist Board, observed that tourists often rush through the city’s sites, creating a stressful experience rather than a relaxing one. The campaign’s message was to "Enjoy Vienna. Not" steering visitors toward local neighborhoods instead of famous landmarks.
Steinhart recently viewed the Oslo video and appreciated how it aligned with the themes Vienna addressed earlier. "Maybe we were too early with it," she remarked, but she praised the Norwegian ad as "wonderful work, funny and nice, and just very well executed." Oslo, with a population of just over a million, often views itself as the smaller sibling compared to larger Scandinavian capitals like Stockholm and Copenhagen. The city is pleased with the video’s success, albeit somewhat surprised by its popularity. Anne Signe Fagereng, the director of marketing at Visit OSLO, admitted, "We were kind of unsure if the humour would really travel." She believes the campaign struck a chord related to the issue of overtourism, similar to the challenges faced by cities like Barcelona, Venice, and Amsterdam. However, she is not concerned that the viral video will attract an overwhelming number of tourists to Norway’s capital.
Jorfald shares this sentiment, expressing contentment with the attention the film has brought to his hometown. He notes that many tourists only briefly visit Oslo before exploring the Norwegian countryside. "You come to Oslo and then you leave, which is sad for them," he says. "They should stay a little longer."
