NORDIC TR SEMINAR


Nordic Travel Retail Seminar highlights: Addressing Norway’s tourism challenge


The Scandic Holmenkollen Park Hotel in Oslo, Norway was the location for this year’s Nordic Travel Retail Seminar (23 May), which spotlighted culture and its influence on the Scandinavian and Baltic DF&TR markets. On the day, there was a notable presentation on Norway’s tourism challenges and opportunities. Luke Barras-Hill reports.


T


his year’s Nordic Travel Retail Seminar, organised by the Nordic Travel Retail Group,


delivered a series of presentations containing high doses of humour but also shrewd advice on extracting best- value in a rapidly shifting business environment. The one-day conference, which


attracted around 100 guests, was supplemented by ample networking time, including a trip to a nearby ski jump and a dinner hosted at the hotel. The Scandinavian and Baltic


DF&TR market, comprising airports, cruise/ferry, border shops and airlines, remains a crucial contributor to European travel retail and one that like all regions, remains prone to impacts from aviation, tourism and external forces such as currency fluctuations, macro-economic and political crises. Bente Bratland Holm, Director of


tourism organisation VisitNorway, identified some of the challenges surrounding building the Norwegian travel industry as a year-round tourism destination.


Refining the message While another record summer for Norway’s tourism trade with strong summer bookings was predicted, she admitted: “The challenge for me and my Swedish, Danish and Finnish colleagues is filling the gap in the rest of the year.” She said pre-conceptions of


the country frequently focus on its boundless beauty – via the mountains, Fjords and inextricable ties to nature – and oil-rich lands. However, there remains a lack


of urgency to encourage people to travel to the country, with greater


JUNE 2019


focus needed on proving value for money, good local cuisine, immersive cultural attractions and art. “We fail on food, we fail on culture


and fail on value for money,” she declared. “We can’t do much on money, but we can work on the others. We need to talk to people in a new way; you can’t advertise this, we need to do marketing in a different way than we have [done] in the past.” In order to address this, she said


VisitNorway.com has overhauled its website, overlaying it with stories, music and cultural themes. By moving from a market-focused


approach (i.e asking Germans what they want from Norway) to storytelling whereby Norwegian people are asked what the country should be broadcasting to the world has signalled a big change, said Brantland Holm. With that in mind, the organisation


seeks to hit a number of important metrics to edge forward its tourism message in the coming five years, with a particular emphasis on sustainability. In a Q&A with Moderator Dermot


Davitt of The Moodie Davitt Report, she said brand ‘Scandinavia’ is strong, but distinguishing that message between the different countries is difficult. In last 10 years, the country has


welcomed one million new guests to the country and half of that has come from overseas, particularly the US and China. She said: “We have a very specific


Chinese strategy that we don’t do marketing in the summer. We are only going for individuals (not group tours but free independent travellers) and doing winter season marketing.


The Scandic Holmenkollen Park Hotel, nestled in the idyllic surroundings of Kongeveien on the outskirts of Oslo.


The Scandinavian and Baltic DF&TR market, comprising airports, cruise/ferry, border shops and airlines, remains a crucial contributor to European travel retail and one that like all regions, remains prone to impacts from aviation, tourism and external forces such as currency fluctuations, macro-economic and political crises.


TRBusiness “The fact is in Norway, it is fully


booked in places during a few weeks in the summer. We have 50% occupancy during the whole year, so we need to work on new groups to come.” Other presentations on the day


were delivered by Morten T. Hansen, Professor at the University of California, Berkley; former European Travel Retail Confederation President Sarah Branquinho; Hjarrand Hillgaar, Chief Analyst, Color Line AS; and former Norwegian professional footballer Jan Åge Fjørtoft. «


For a more detailed report from the Nordic Travel Retail Seminar, visit www.trbusiness.com.


TRBUSINESS 19


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