HF Holidays

			Alex, Product Manager, HF Holidays European Holidays

1. First of all, how did you get involved in the travel business, and how did you end up working at HF Holidays ?

I was working in London in the media and getting increasingly fed up with the long hours and hectic lifestyle. I’d always been an avid traveler and hiker and decided to move to the Lake District to live in the mountains. I was lucky enough to get a job with HF Holidays working with our  leader panel (we have 850 volunteer leaders) which was a complete, and welcome, change of direction for me. Shortly afterwards, because of my own personal travel experience and mountain leader training, I moved into the Abroad department and I now manage our European Guided Walking holidays.

2. How many tourists do HF Holidays send to Scandinavia each year?

We currently send about 250 walking guests each year to our base at the wonderful Stalheim Hotel. This holiday has sold out each year since we launched it five years ago. We are currently developing a guided walking programme in the Lofoten islands for 2012, with excellent assistance from Innovation Norway, and hoping to move into Sweden in the near future.

3. Do you feel that the business travel market are increasing, or do you focus more on general tourism?

We’re in the leisure and activity market exclusively. Our main focus is our Guided Walking product and we take about 45,000 guests walking with us each year and another 10,000 with our cycling and leisure holidays like photography and cooking.

4. How would you describe the average tourist interested in Norway – what is the “profile” ?

For our guests, it’s a once in a lifetime destination. They want to see and experience the attractions that Norway is justly famous for – cruising down fjords, riding the Flåmsbana and visiting Bergen. And of course, go walking!

5. What do you think of the venture Norway manual, how do you use it and what can we do to make it better?

The Venture Norway manual is an excellent resource as a starting point for developing new resorts and understanding what each area offers. The most important aspects for me to understand are hotel availability, location and standard balanced with what the walking will be like in each area. One thing I would appreciate, would be a map of each area in the relevant section so that I can cross reference key resources against their location. I also find the Norwegian Tourist Information offices an invaluable resource and it would be great to have a contact name for each area’s office.

6. Last, but not least, would you like to tell us a little bit about HF Holidays `s plans for the future; new destinations, new markets, new package tours?

We’re continuing to expand our range of holidays both in the UK and overseas, having just bought a new hotel in mid-Wales and adding around 20 new overseas destinations in 2012. Walking is always likely to be the mainstay of our business, but we also developing our cycling and activity holidays which have both been very successful. We’ve recently been voted the UK’s Best Large Tour Operator in the Guardian/Observer Travel awards, which we are very proud of, and we’re already looking forward to our centenary in 2013 when we’ll be celebrating 100 years of providing outdoor holidays.

THE POLAR PEOPLE ~ Hand-crafted Arctic & Antarctic holidays

			Sarah Mayer THE POLAR PEOPLE ~ Hand-crafted Arctic & Antarctic holidays

1. First of all, how did you get involved in the travel business, and how did you end up working at The Polar People?

The Polar People is a UK operator and agent, specialising in hand-crafted Arctic & Antarctic holidays.

We are a family business, founded on our own love of high latitudes.  Over the last 20 years, we have built up a wonderful network of expert friends in the far north (and some in the far south too), operating very specialist and adventurous holidays for tiny groups.  We sell these unique trips, knowing that our clients will be in safe hands – and we also guide some of the holidays ourselves. I first fell in love with northern places when I was 17 and took part in a youth expedition to Greenland.  I had to go back! So after my degree, I worked for a while organising and leading expeditions for young people. Before long, the parents of my young explorers asked if it was possible for them to visit these beautiful places – with a little bit of comfort.  I called up some friends in the north and The Polar People was born!

2.  Can you tell us about your personal favorites, since you do guiding yourself?

On the mainland, Troms is my favourite corner of Norway. It has everything I could wish for: In the winter, stunning mountains and great snow for ski tours - right down to the sea. Of course it is an ideal latitude for seeing the Northern Lights too. In the summer, the coast and islands of Troms are a beautiful with lots of secret places to explore, either hiking or sailing - great for wildlife as well.

Svalbard is another very special place. Exploring by sailing boat, or small expedition ship; anchoring in secluded fjords and hiking ashore to witness the immensity of ice, rock and sea.  Although so far north, Svalbard is populated by fascinating and uniquely adapted plants, animals, birds (and
people!) - this is where we meet the high Arctic face to face -  It takes a lot to beat a trip like that!

3. What type of tourism are you focusing on?

The Polar People specialises in holidays that are really off the beaten track and away from the crowds.  That is why northern Scandinavia is perfect for us, there are plenty of little nooks where we can still experience genuine wilderness with nobody else around :-)

4. What is the typical profile of tourists that you handle?

In outline, The Polar People’s guests enjoy being outdoors. They come to Norway to enjoy the wild places: ski-touring, snow-shoeing, sailing and walking. They are interested in birdlife and animals, almost all of them carry a pair of binoculars and many of them are artists. Most of our travellers are adults between the ages of 30 and 80. They enjoy solitude and also the convivial company of a very small group. They like the idea of being truly remote – without a long journey time!

5. What do you think of the venture Norway manual, how do you use it and what can we do to make it better?

I use the Venture Norway catalogue as inspiration for new tours and to help me plan ‘tailor-made’ holidays when clients want to visit specific areas that I am less familiar with. I find it useful in giving a ‘snapshot’ of each of the providers, attractions and museums, which gives me an idea of whether they’ll fit with The Polar People holidays.  Several times, I have found useful providers in the Venture Norway catalogue which I did not discover on my first internet search.

My suggestions for improvements would be clearer maps of each county region, with the providers marked on it.  I would also find it useful to include more of the really small family-run accommodation providers.

6. Last, but not least, would you like to tell us a little bit about the Polar People`s plans for the future; new destinations, new markets, new package tours?

Very slowly we are growing.  In the next few years we are hoping to attract more families with children, by offering more self-catering holidays in beautiful ‘Little Red Houses’, (including one we have just bought ourselves in Troms!), linked with local providers for activities. We are expanding the number of tours that we guide ourselves, especially in North Norway and Spitsbergen - and are also making plans for new adventures such as summer cycling holidays.

Scan-Suisse

			Bo Andersen, Director, Scan-Suisse

1. What type of travel agent is Scan-Suisse, and can you tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you ended up in the travel business?

Scan-Suisse is a Brazilian tour operator/wholesaler specialized in operation to the Nordic countries. The difference between Scan-Suisse and our competitors is that we are not dealing with one single incoming tour operator but with tour operators selling different products at various levels, so that we are able to offer any kind of service to the even most demanding agent/client. Many of our competitors often buy services from us that they cannot get from their supplier, as they are sure that they will get what they need – or at least an indication as to how to go about it – through Scan-Suisse.

I was born in Denmark in 1947. After a long period with SAS in Copenhagen, I decided to exchange Scandinavia for the vibrant, subtropical way of life in Brazil and accepted an offer from SAS to become part of their family in Sâo Paulo. With a good knowledge of Portuguese and a solid Scandinavian background, I relished the chance to take on our European competitors, filling up our weekly aircraft to Europe by visiting the travel and cargo agents in southern Brazil. After twelve years, I decided to start my own business, and together with a Swiss friend launched our company in 1985. We soon found tour operations the most interesting, and decided to set up packages for Scandinavia and South America to sell on the Brazilian market as well as packages for incoming tourists to South America. 

2. Approx. how many tourists does Scan-Suisse send to Scandinavia each year?
    
Today we send approximately 1000 passengers to Scandinavia and we look after some 300 Scandinavians coming to South America per year. 

3. What do you think of the Venture Norway publication and in which way do you use it?

Many Brazilians go to their agents for information about what, when, where and how to do things in Scandinavia. In many cases the agents give us a call or pass the reservation on to us, and mostly we can handle it without getting in contact with our Scandinavian suppliers. If the agents had a copy of Venture Norway, they would be able to reply to their clients quickly and easily.

Venture Norway is a sort of "Bible" for us – we use it almost daily. It is easy to sell a guaranteed departure in a group but when you have to sell an individual tour with a rented car and need to give comprehensive, detailed information to the agents or passengers, the Venture Norway guide is a must. 

4. Is it anything more that, in your opinion, we should put in the book that would make it more helpful for you?

We would like more information about internal transportation in Scandinavia with routings and departure times – cruises and ferries, for example.

Interview with Norwegian Heritage

			Grete Horntvedt, Managing Director, Norwegian Heritage

1. Can you tell us about Norwegian heritage as an organization, how long you have existed, numbers of employees/members?

Norwegian Heritage is a non-profit national foundation established in 1993 by Oppland County and by 29 cofounders in the public and private sector in close cooperation with the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.

Our mission is conservation through use.

Norwegian Heritage is an organization with special interest in aiming to secure our cultural heritage for future generations through sustainable use along the coast, inland and in urban areas, and is open for membership to companies, organizations or individual members.

Norwegian Heritage
a) protects the interests of owners and users of cultural monuments protected by law and worthy of preservation
b) promotes and participate actively in appropriate commercial use of cultural heritage
c) through financial and professional support actively manages cultural heritage all over the country.

Norwegian Heritage takes practical measures in cooperation with public authorities and the business community to preserve the diverse cultural heritage we have in Norway. Norwegian Heritage works all over the country, and we initiate cultural measures at both the local and national level.

Norwegian Heritage is open to anyone who wants to take out individual membership. It costs NOK 390 per year, and 50 kroner of that we send on to the local historical society chosen by the member. We also have a system of business membership, where cultural/historic sites can pay an annual service fee of NOK 2500 to be profiled in the heritage travelbook Veiviseren ("The Guide") and on our website
www.olavsrosa.no. Norwegian Heritage has about. 2000 individual members and 500 business members.

2. Each year you hand out two different prizes. On what sorts of criteria do you base your selections, and can you say a little about the difference between the two prizes?

Norwegian Heritage's Special Award is presented annually to individuals or groups, clubs and other organizations which have demonstrated the capability and the will to play an active role in preserving, promoting, publicizing or improving access to Norway's cultural heritage. The purpose of the award is to promote interest in Norwegian cultural heritage. All members of Norwegian Heritage may propose candidates. Norwegian Heritage has initiated the National Cultural Landscape Prize and works with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Norwegian Agricultural Authority in selecting the best project each year.

The agricultural authorities of the various counties nominate the projects, which are assessed according to the following criteria:

• The project should have made an exceptional contribution to the cultural landscape.
• It should add to the diversity of the cultural landscape as a whole.
• It should preserve and illuminate the cultural landscape.
• It should involve sustainable management, active farming and a modern development of the cultural landscape.
• It should increase public accessibility to the cultural landscape.
• It should produce a learning effect on the cultural landscape.
• It should anchor the Norwegian cultural heritage in the cultural landscape.
• There should be a clear correlation between the natural environment and buildings in the cultural landscape.

3. Which candidates won in 2010 and why?

The Norwegian Heritage Special Award 2010 was given to Friends of Storfjorden in Møre og Romsdal for their 35 years of work in restoring abandoned mountain and fjord farms along the Storfjord in Sunnmøre while portraying the special history of life where "no one would believe that anyone could live". The Norwegian Heritage Special Award consists of a punchbowl of traditional design from Gjøvik Glassworks and a certificate.

Previous award winners are:
• 2009: Engøyholmen Coastal Culture Centre, Stavanger
• 2008: Harold Grytten, Ålesund
• 2007: National Tourist Routes

The National Cultural Landscape Prize 2010 was awarded to the Friends of the Vega Islands, Nordland, for their work in preserving the cultural heritage and cultural landscape of Vega. The prize consists of a check for NOK 50,000, a graphic print by the artist Hans Normann Dahl, and a certificate. Previous award winners are:
• 2009: The Nordherad project, Oppland
• 2008: Herand regional society, Hordaland
• 2007: Hjartdal municipality and Mayor Olav Tho, Telemark

4. In addition to your prizes, there is also the certification Olavsrosa, St Olav's Rose. What's the story behind it, how many are there today, and what is the basis for achieving this mark of quality?

The St Olav's Rose quality mark is assigned to locations, facilities or merchandise that meet Norwegian Heritage quality standards, and takes in cultural landscapes, historic building complexes or areas, arts and crafts traditions, culinary experiences or individual products. Norwegian Heritage's aim is that Olavsrosa will serve as a standard quality mark and broaden awareness of the Norwegian tradition. As of today, 113 localities hold Olavsrosa. These must be open to the public and have a story to tell in addition to operating some form of enterprise based on cultural heritage.

5. Can you tell us a little about whether a focus on tourism is central to Norwegian Heritage, and what types of visitors are typically welcomed by your members?

The importance of tourism based on cultural heritage has grown steadily, particularly since the turn of the century. We profile and publish articles on cultural heritage attractions in our quarterly Cultural Heritage magazine. Every three years we publish the cultural and historical travel guide VEIVISEREN (“The Guide”), listing about 500 interesting cultural heritage destinations. In the midst of financial crisis, it seems that the interest in cultural and historical destinations is growing rapidly. The website www.olavsrosa.no has had a formidable growth of 56 per cent so far this year.

We have no statistics on the type of visitor, but we assume that the "typical" consumer of cultural experiences has a good education (what is "good" is a bit imprecise), has a decent income and is concerned with culture as a value/quality of life . In addition, the majority of the guests are, shall we say, of a certain age (35-40 + ...). But even so, we see that many attractions and destinations rooted in cultural heritage appeal to families with children as well, and many places have special offers for families.

Interview with HANEN

			Ole Jonny Trangsrud, Director of marketing and promotion, HANEN

1. Can you briefly describe HANEN as an organization and tell us something about its main activities?

HANEN is the industry and marketing organization for rural tourism, traditional food and freshwater fishing in Norway. It has about 500 members across the country, whose businesses involve overnight accommodation, catering, farm food production, freshwater fishing and so on. Local culture, local ingredients, local traditions and emphasis on the genuine and unique at each location are central to what our members offer. You should be aware of where you are in the country and how this differs from what you have experienced elsewhere.

2. How long has your organization existed and why the name HANEN?

We have had organizations promoting rural tourism, food and freshwater fishing in this country for many years. In 2004, the rural tourism and farm food bodies merged to form Norsk Bygdeturisme og Gardsmat (NBG), followed in 2009 by a merger between NBG and Norsk Innlandsfiskelag (Freshwater Fishing in Norway). At that point, it was decided that the name of the new organization would be HANEN -- short and sweet!

3. Where in Norway can we find most members?

Our 500 members are organized into 13 regional groups, representing businesses in rural tourism, food and freshwater fishing across the country. Generally we find the most HANEN members in the West-Norway and in Trøndelag, but Eastern Norway – Hedmark, Oppland, Buskerud, Telemark – is also well represented. However, there are plenty of members everywhere in the country, from the Oslofjord area in southern Norway to the northernmost counties.

4. What do you see as the biggest challenges in Norway's efforts to persuade more tourists to visit us? What concrete measures might you propose?

We must become even better at promoting the experiences tourists will enjoy when they choose to travel in Norway. It is essential that we manage to distinguish ourselves from all the other tourist destinations out there, and that we present ourselves as attractive and exciting to our target group – which must comprise those who are willing to pay what it costs to travel in Norway because they want the particular experiences we can offer.

And we must be much better at specifying what we have to offer: facts and figures on content, price, days and times, ordering/ purchasing, etc., must be more detailed than much of the information available today. We must SELL more – and therefore we must be concrete. And in that way the tourists also can decide whether they want to buy and what they want to buy.

We also need to get even more people working together on specific services in Norwegian tourism. We have several cases of large fjord hotels on the west coast working with, for example, farm restaurants, to which they run excursions. The hotels say clearly that if not for these collaborations, they would lose many of their group bookings – they would have been just another fjord hotel in western Norway. There must be more of these 'win-win' collaborations in the future.

5. Is HANEN looking for new partners at home or abroad, or are you trying to keep it all "in house" so to speak?

I have already touched the collaboration already, both among our own members and between HANEN's members and the rest of the travel industry. This I strongly believe will only increase in years to come.

In addition, we work extensively both with the media and with travel agencies and tour operators, at home and abroad, and in many cases with Innovation Norway. When we attend events such as travel fairs and the Norwegian Travel Workshop (NTW), there is great interest in what our members can offer: accommodation, catering, activities/experiences or the chance to taste and buy traditional, local food. There is clearly a growing interest in the local, the unique and the authentic, among Norwegians and foreigners traveling in Norway.

6. How do you see future strategy with regard to tourists?

We must take advantage of the clear trends in Norwegian and international tourism: fewer bus tours and more individual travellers, shorter trips, a focus on experiences, and growing interest in local food and local history, traditions, etc. This development fits what our members can offer like a glove. In order to reach our customers, we must use a range of marketing channels. Venture Norway is one of these. Other marketing activities include advertising in selected media, encouraging media coverage generally, participating in trade fairs, and networking.

We have an online portal – really a search engine – to find exactly what you are looking for among our nearly 500 companies. The address is simple: www.hanen.no. The website includes digital maps and GPS information so that it is easy to reach our businesses.

We also have a comprehensive catalogue detailing our products and services throughout Norway. This too includes GPS information, which is helpful when driving around the country. You can 'browse and book' using this directory at www.hanen.no. We receive numerous orders on the catalogue all year round, but naturaly most in the run-up to the summer season. Even  though we are accessible on the Internet, via mobile phone,etc., many visitors still think it is nice to have a big, colourful catalogue to take along on holiday in Norway.

Welcome to the great experience of rural Norway!