By Anna Molin
Norwegian banks were busy refilling cash machines with euros and
advising travellers to Greece to stock up on euros Monday.
Steps by Athens to shut down its banking system until July 7 and
impose capital controls to keep money in the country have triggered
a rush for euro cash among the many Scandinavian tourists heading
to the country's popular island getaways.
The airport in Stavanger, home to Norwegian oil giant Statoil
ASA, ran out of euros early Sunday morning after hundreds en route
to Greece withdrew significantly larger amounts of the common
single currency than usual, said Thor-Christian Haugland, spokesman
for SpareBank SR-Bank, which runs the ATMs at the country's
fourth-biggest airport.
"We've been completely taken aback by the Greek effect," Mr.
Haugland said. "Many travelers are worried and are hoarding
cash."
Truckloads of euros are now scurrying to airports across the
country of 5 million people to help travelers to Greece fill up
their pockets with euros, banks said.
Even Westerveld, a spokesman for DNB ASA, Norway's largest bank,
said it was advising customers to take enough euros in cash to
cover their entire stay in Greece, amid fears hotels, restaurants
and shops may stop accepting credit cards and the country's cash
machines could run out of money. He said the bank had sent an extra
delivery of euros to Oslo's main airport Gardermoen Monday but
added travelers may be wise to withdraw cash before heading to the
airport.
Mr. Haugland at SR-Bank advised travelers to pay for hotels,
transport and excursions in advance if possible since traveling
with large amounts of cash also poses a risk. So far, they said
there were no reports of tourists cancelling their vacations to
Greece as a result of the crisis, although some were calling to
look into the finer details of their travel insurance.
-Write to Anna Molin at anna.molin@wsj.com; Twitter:
@AnnaWSJ