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Bergen, Norway: Stunning scenery and natural beauty
Levent Bergkotte
Bergen, on the southwestern coast of Norway, is one of the most picturesque
towns in Europe. It’s built between the mountains and the sea and there are
dozens of small islands off the coast. Unfortunately a fire in 1901 has
destroyed most of the town’s wooden houses, but the colorful buildings in
the city centre, called Bryggen, have been preserved and restored. This is
now a World Heritage Site. If you like seafood, Bergen is the place to be.
There is a daily fish market along the inner harbor and plenty of seafood
restaurants around. You can take a cable car up an 800 meter high mountain
to enjoy a fantastic overview of the town and the coastline. Bergen is a wet
place; it has abundant rainfall throughout the year. That explains all the
green scenery. But don’t let the rain stop you from visiting this beautiful
town and its surroundings.
Bryggen, the historical centre
of Bergen, with its colorful wooden houses along the water.
The most popular sightseeing tour out of Bergen, called
“Norway in a Nutshell,” is an unforgettable experience. The full-day trip
starts in the town of Voss, which is easily reachable by public
transportation from Bergen. From there you can choose to start the tour by
bus or by train. With the first option, a bus takes you up the
Stalheimskleiva mountain, to the Stalheim Hotel on top, offering a stunning
view of the valley below. Here you can simply stand on the terrace, enjoying
the natural beauty around you, or do some souvenir shopping at the hotel’s
handicraft shop. Then it’s down again, over a steep road with 13 hairpin
bends and passing a roaring waterfall. At Gudvangen there is a boat waiting
to sail down the Neroyfjord, the narrowest fjord in Europe, which is
included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The boat then turns into the
Aurlandsfjord. Fjords, which can be found all along the Norwegian coast, are
long narrow inlets of the sea between steep cliffs. Both fjords are branches
of the Sognefjord, which is the longest and widest fjord in Europe. The boat
isn’t just for the tourists; it stops a few times along the route to drop
off mail and provisions at the small farming communities along the shores.
The craft navigates its way through the fjords among stunning scenery,
between steep mountains which reach up to 1800 meters and numerous
waterfalls transporting water from the melting snow on top. The water is
extremely clear, and also very cold. You might see some seals sitting on the
rocks along the shore. After the boat arrives in Flam, there is some time to
spare (more souvenir shopping?) before hopping onto the Flam Railway, a
train which will take you to Myrdal station. The train covers the 20
kilometers, climbing from sea level to almost 1000 meters, in about an hour.
This train was put into service to transport workers and goods between the
port of Flam and Myrdal station, connecting with the railway from Oslo to
Bergen. It now stops along the route near a magnificent waterfall. Once you
reach Myrdal, you connect with the intercity train coming from Oslo, which
takes you back to Voss or Bergen. The Bergen Railway is a favorite among
lovers of train travel and is voted as one of the 20 most stunning train
rides in the world.
The tour out of Bergen costs 790 kroner, which is about 5000 baht. This trip
can also be made out of Oslo, or combining Oslo with Bergen. If you want to
spend more time at points along the route, you can also do the tour spread
out over two or more days.
The best period to visit Bergen is during summer, in July or August - not
only because there is more chance of some sunny days then, but also simply
because it is the warmest period. It can snow until well into spring and the
wind blowing in from the North Sea can be freezing cold. It gets colder and
wetter again in September, and the autumn seems to blend effortlessly into
the winter, when it barely gets light during the day. The above mentioned
tour, for example, can be made throughout the year, but the bus ride up and
down the Stalheimskleiva is cancelled during the winter due to safety
concerns. Summer, however, is a great period to discover the area. I t never
really gets dark; you can walk around at 3 am and see perfectly around you,
and if you’re lucky you will be able to witness the impressive natural
phenomenon of the aurora borealis, the northern lights, lighting up the
skies with different colors which seem to be dancing around.
Bergen can be reached through various points. From Bangkok, the cheapest
tickets are available with KLM, connecting in Amsterdam, with prices
starting at about 35,000 baht. Another option is with SAS Scandinavian
Airlines via Copenhagen. A stay in Norway is not cheap, and that, of course,
also goes for Bergen. Expect to pay around 40 kroner (225 baht) for a
coffee, 65 kroner (350 baht) for a beer and at least 160 kroner (900 baht)
per person for a simple meal (that is, in a restaurant, not in a fast-food
place.) Accommodation prices depend on what type of stay you’re looking for.
What you will get in return is an unforgettable experience well worth the
cost.
Have a look on www.visit bergen.com to find out more about this charming
town. For more information about Norway in a Nutshell, visit
www.norwaynutshell.com
New motor rally for Indonesia
Indonesia’s Motor Association (IMI), in cooperation with
the Department of Culture and Tourism, is to organize a National Time Rally
Championship in eight provinces. It will take place from April to December
this year.
The first race will take place in East Java on April 8 and 9, followed by
South Sulawesi in May, South Kalimantan in June and Sumatera in July. Rally
promoter, Perkasa Enterprise Indonesia CEO, Didie Munadjat, said: “The
fourth series in North Sumatera will be a regional event with participants
from neighboring countries, such as Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar.”
The rally will then move on to South Sumatera and Kalimantan. “The last two
rounds will be Central and West Java, and Bali. The initial plan was to
organize an international event in Bali in December, inviting participants
from other countries. However, we are also thinking of combining Java, so it
becomes a Java-Bali rally,” Munadjat said.
Besides stopping at places of interests in each destination, the event will
feature tourism and arts and crafts fair in every province. Minister of
Culture and Tourism, Jero Wacik, said: “Our support of the event is in line
with our efforts to develop tourism through sports events.” (TTG Asia)
Garuda boosts Perth flights
Garuda Indonesia substantially increased its capacity on
its Perth-Bali-Jakarta route when it introduced the new Boeing 737 NG (New
Generation) airliner on March 26.
The aircraft is part of a US$1.6 billion order for 18 B737 NGs followed by
10 B787-8 Dreamliners.
Garuda Regional Manager, South-west Pacific, Suranto Yitnopawiro, said the
Perth-Bali-Jakarta route was selected because of Western Australia’s
importance to restoring Bali as Australia’s number one overseas holiday
destination.
“We have been greatly encouraged by the loyalty Australians have shown to
destinations in Bali and Indonesia more broadly, and are equipping ourselves
to provide our customers with top levels of comfort, safety, fuel efficiency
and value,” Suranto said.
The daily flight will depart Perth at 08.00 and arrive in Bali at 11.40
before continuing on to Jakarta, arriving at 13.00.
The return service departs Jakarta at 18.30 and Bali at 21.50, arriving in
Perth at 01.25 the next morning.
The B737-800 NGs will initially be configured with 180 economy seats. This
will result in the temporary non-availability of executive (business) class
seating while new aircraft are configured within the next six months to
provide a new level of executive class. (TTG Asia)
Motorcycle chopper caravan joins Ubon tourism campaign
Drivers of heavy, long-distance trucks, and big
motorcyles, are often referred to as ‘kings of the road’ in some western
countries.
Thailand’s northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani has invited a group of
over 500 ‘chopper’ motorcycle riders worldwide - kings of the road — to
visit the province this weekend as part of a campaign to promote the
northeastern province’s tourism potential, provincial Administration Head
Pornchai Khowsurat said.
Pornchai said the provincial administration and the Tourism Authority of
Thailand (TAT) Northeastern Office in Ubon Ratchathani organized the “2006
Ubon Bike Week” on March 25-26 to promote natural tourist attractions in the
province along the long border with Indochina neighbors Laos and Cambodia,
which provide excellent views.
Highlighted activities included a caravan of an estimated 500 ‘chopper’
riders - both Thais and foreigners - who took their big bikes along the
Mekong River sand beach at Phao Sai district.
Riding and sightseeing along the Mekong River side, the big cycle caravan
had a chance to visit the natural beauty of the conserved forests and the
historical value of 4,000 year-old pictures painted by ancient peoples in
Pha-taem National Park.
Porncahi said the invited bike riders would help promote Ubon tourism by
word-of -mouth, telling their peers about their impressions on the way, as
these ‘kings of the road’ riders usually extend themselves from one group to
another. (TNA)
Political tension won’t affect key Chiang Mai festival, says TAT
Tourist authorities in northern Thailand have played down
the potential impact of the country’s current political turmoil on
attendance at next month’s Great Songkran Festival in Chiang Mai.
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) northern office head Jullaphong Saranak
said that rival political demonstrations in Bangkok and major regional
centers, including Chiang Mai, were not putting potential visitors off.
The Great Songkran Festival is scheduled to take place in Chiang Mai from
April 13-15.
Jullaphong said inquiries about festival activities had been made from both
Europe and Asia through the TAT website as well as the authority’s 17 branch
offices worldwide. April reservations for package tours centered on Chiang
Mai were also strong, he said.
Jullaphong said around 250 hotels and guesthouses with more than 20,000
rooms in Chiang Mai would be available to cater for visitors.
Although spending by Thai tourists during the festival is expected to be
down compared to previous years because of the economy, he predicted the
festival would still generate at least 500 million baht for the province.
The Northern Thai Hotel Association President Sangvorn Santisuk said that
almost half of Chiang Mai’s hotel rooms have already been booked for the
Songkran period by both Thai and foreign tourists.
Most of the foreign guests were from European countries such as the
Netherlands, Sweden, France and Italy, while some are from Africa.
Sangvorn said he expected the province’s hotels to be 80 percent booked by
April 12. Another 20 percent would be reserved for visitors who had not made
advance reservations for accommodation.
Sangvorn hopes that the number of tourists visiting Chiang Mai during this
year’s Songkran festival would double that of last year. (TNA)
Laos to host Mekong tourism summit
Laos hosted the first Mekong Tourism Investment Summit in
Luang Prabang on March 28 to 30.
The summit was a spin-off of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded Mekong
Tourism Forum, which was held on March 10 last year.
The ADB has ceased to fund the forum because it wants the private sector to
take over the responsibility of tourism cooperation between Mekong-region
countries - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan, in
China’s Guangxi province.
Mekong Tourism Office (MTO) Executive Director, Stephen Yong, said in the
past 10 years governments in the Mekong region had started meaningful
collaboration to advance tourism: “The role of the private sector should now
be expanded.”
The investment summit is believed to be the first step toward that
direction, as it is wholly sponsored by the private sector: Bangkok Airways,
Amadeus Asia Pacific, Best Western Asia, Diethelm Travel Asia and Incentive
House Asia.
The event also received support from the ADB, Lao Airlines, SNV, a
Netherlands development organization, and the Pacific Asia Travel
Association.
SNV senior tourism adviser, Dr Paul Rogers, said the summit attracted some
150 delegates. The target audience included the private sector in
hospitality-related industries, representatives from the six Mekong-region
governments and various non-profit organizations.
Each of the six countries set up exhibition booths to present tourism
investment opportunities. Outcomes will be presented at the Mekong-region
tourism ministers’ dialogue, which will take place at the PATA Annual
Conference in Pattaya, Thailand, on April 24. (TTG Asia)
Thai trade expresses concern over political situation
While Thailand has reported an impressive growth of 29
percent from a total of 1.67 million tourists in the first two months when
compared with the same period last year, the tourism industry has expressed
concerns over the impact of the ongoing political conflict.
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor, Juthamas Siriwan, said the
tension had already resulted in about 65,000 tourists canceling their trips
between March and April.
She said the cancellations were from 5,000 Singaporeans and 60,000 Chinese,
and bookings from Japanese travelers were slow.
The Federation of Thai Tourism Associations (FETTA) had issued an open
letter last week calling for the government, opposition parties and
antigovernment demonstrators to talk and end the dispute as soon as
possible.
FETTA, made up of five tourism-related associations, said the political
dispute has even slowed the growth in domestic travel and this could be seen
in the poor sales figures at two recent tourism consumer fairs in Bangkok.
To boost travelers’ confidence, the TAT is sending officials overseas to
talk about the current political situation to the foreign media this week.
The focus will be on the Chinese and Japanese markets. (TTG Asia)
New campaign
to boost Thai tourism
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Star Alliance
and Thai Airways International (THAI) have launched a Visit Thailand
campaign that will run until December 31. The campaign is expected to
attract seven million visitors this year, a 20 percent increase on last
year’s 5.8 million.
Star Alliance CEO, Jaan Albrecht, said while the campaign aimed to attract
tourists worldwide, it would emphasize Japan, South Korea and Germany.
“These are the top three inbound markets to Thailand which have shown strong
growth after December 2004’s tsunami.”
All Nippon Airways, Lufthansa and Asiana Airlines will support the campaign
while the TAT will spend 15 million baht (US$375,000) on public relations
activities.
Tourists will be offered a Star Alliance Visit Thailand air pass for three
domestic sectors on THAI’s economy class at US$149. Up to three additional
sectors can be bought at US$49 each.
The campaign is modeled after Visit Japan launched by Star Alliance last
year, which attracted a historic record of more than six million tourists to
Japan, an 18 percent increase.
THAI Acting President, Somchianuk Engtrakul, said he hoped the campaign
would be as successful as Japan’s, especially in boosting tourism to the
Andaman Sea tourist resorts such as Phuket and Krabi. (TTG Asia)
Foreign investors see
bright future for Phuket
There has been a recent upsurge of investments in the
resort island of Phuket, with hundreds of new businesses starting since the
beginning of the year, local business promotion authorities said last
Friday.
Phuket was hard hit by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of late 2004,
but has since made a rapid recovery.
Veerachai Tantiwattanawanlop, head of Phuket’s Office of Business
Development, said there had been 516 investors, both Thai and foreign,
opening businesses in the province over the past two months. Investment has
been flowing non-stop into real estate, tourism and other related
businesses, he said.
‘’They see its potential as it receives over four million tourists every
year. Because of its value for money, business people have continued to come
in and invest here.’’
As the city recovered from the disaster, investment stepped up with more
than 500 businesses, big and small, opening their doors.
‘’Most of the new investments in Phuket concentrate on real estate, tourism,
hotel, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses,’’ he said.
‘’Real estate, in particular, is booming with many foreigners looking to buy
a holiday home in Phuket,’’ said Veerachai. (TNA)
Emirates opens two premium lounges in Australia
Emirates’ senior vice
president commercial operations East Asia and Australasia, Richard Vaughan,
and the Hon. John Watkins MP, deputy premier and minister for state
development seen here at the Emirates Lounge in Sydney with the airline’s
cabin crew members Bianca Dambitis (left) and Kylie Pattison.
Emirates’ luxurious First and Business Class Lounges at
Sydney’s Kingsford-Smith International Airport and at Perth Airport were
officially opened by top dignitaries in Australia.
The new Emirates Lounge in Sydney was inaugurated by Deputy Premier John
Watkins MP, while the one in Perth was opened by Western Australia Tourism
Minister Sheila McHale MLA. Richard Vaughan, Emirates’ senior vice president
commercial operations East Asia and Australasia, represented the airline at
both the openings along with management and staff in Australia.
Soonthorn Suree, Emirates’ area manager for Thailand and Indochina said,
“The launch of the two premium lounges, especially the one in Sydney,
provides more hospitable services and privileges to our passengers from
Thailand. The superb facilities at the airport truly add value to our
Thailand-Australia connections.”
Emirates has ensured that both lounges meet its high standards by investing
approximately US$2 million (or Bt80 million) in designing and constructing
the Emirates Lounge at Sydney and around US$1.6 million (or Bt64 million) in
building the one in Perth.
Both the lounges are modelled on Emirates’ multi-award winning First and
Business Class Lounges in Dubai, embodying the airline’s dedication to
providing its passengers superior service and quality.
In Sydney, the Emirates Lounge is 880m2 in size and caters for 160 guests,
making it the largest dedicated passenger lounge facility in Australia. It
also features a business centre with eight individual work stations as well
as an extensive menu, featuring hot and cold dishes prepared by an on-site
chef, as well as fine beverages.
The Emirates Lounge at Perth Airport features 585m2 of space and is designed
to accommodate 106 guests, with a business centre housing 12 individual
work-stations and a dining room.
Both lounges are havens of luxury and comfort, featuring marble imported
from Italy, high-quality leather sourced from Scotland, gold-plated Rolex
wall clocks from Geneva, plasma screens and designer bathrooms as well as
showers. Passengers can access wireless LAN facilities while in the lounges,
which also offer hearing loops for the hearing-impaired and custom-made
Braille/tactile signage for the sight-impaired.
The lounge facilities are available to Emirates’ First and Business Class
passengers as well as Gold members of Skywards, the frequent flyer program
for Emirates and SriLankan Airlines.
Both lounges were designed and constructed by the Sydney-based SmithMadden
Group and designed to first-class specifications from Emirates.
In May 2004, Emirates committed more than US$13.6 million to develop
top-notch lounges around the world. Australia has been key in this roll-out,
with Brisbane being the first-ever on Emirates’ network to feature an
Emirates Lounge. Since then the airline has inaugurated such facilities for
its passengers in Auckland, New York, London Gatwick and Paris, with more
currently being developed across the network.
The Emirates Lounge in Sydney will provide a luxurious sanctuary for the
airline’s passengers who currently travel to and from New South Wales,
reinforcing its commitment to the entire Australasian market, as from the
city it also offers daily services to both Christchurch and Auckland. The
opening of the Emirates Lounge in Perth is timely, as the airline is
scheduled to start four additional flights to Dubai in March, which will
increase to a double daily service in September.
Thailand: Tourism’s Grand Events
Andrew J Wood
Reputed to be the world’s largest, the International Travel Show in Berlin
(ITB) in March each year is one of the industry’s grand events. It truly is
a monster with 126,000 sq metres of exhibition space, equivalent to 21
convention centres the size of the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre
in Bangkok.
This year Thailand fielded its biggest ever contingent with more than 117
organisations attending this premium event. Juthamas Siriwan, governor of
the Tourism Authority of Thailand, commented that there were 60 percent more
newcomers at ITB 2006 including spas, dentists and hospitals, referring to a
push for health tourism. Krabi, Phang Na and Phuket also had their own
pavilions giving Thailand a very strong presence.
ITB’s success is drawn on a number of factors: Firstly, it is important; the
tourism world quite literally meets in Berlin. The timing is also ideal to
finalise contracts for next year and just by being there buyers know you are
a serious player in the tourism field of international marketing. For those
of us in the private sector, who are riding the mainstream of a fast and
ever changing tourism current, ITB is a ‘must attend’ show. For the public
sector it is the same story, every senior TAT official attends this show and
HRH Princess Ubolratana is also often called upon to act as an official
tourism Ambassador.
As in previous years, HRH the Princess graciously presided once again at
this year’s ITB and a rather special party was organized in Berlin, to
launch “Thailand - A Grand Invitation”, in honour of HM the Kings 60th
Anniversary of his accession to the throne. HRH Princess Ubolratana not only
gave the opening address (in faultless English) but also entertained
partygoers later, with a charming musical performance.
Most observers at the show agreed, 2006 will be a good year for Thailand’s
tourism. Thailand was receiving strong interest from buyers for the
following year and many operators were ‘shopping’ for increased room
allotments. Bookings by TUI (Germany and Europe) and Kuoni (UK and Europe),
two of the biggest Asia specialists, were reporting increases of 50-75% on
2005 bookings. Most tour operators I met were also saying that Thai beach
resorts were showing strong gains, only a year after the tsunami. With most
offering ‘Around Thailand’ options this is good news not only for Bangkok
and the Andaman region but for all popular venues throughout the kingdom.
During HRH the Princess’s royal party I had invited, as my guest of honour,
Jim Power, secretary general of Skål International. Jim had just jetted in
that afternoon from an inspection trip to Thailand. He too is planning is
own grand event in 2006.
Skål is a professional organization of tourism leaders around the world,
promoting global tourism and friendship. It is the only international group
uniting all branches of the travel and tourism industry. Its members, the
industry’s managers and executives, meet at local, national, regional and
international levels to discuss and pursue topics of common interest.
The first Club was founded in 1932 in Paris by travel managers, following an
educational tour of Scandinavia. Skål International today has approximately
23,000 members in more than 525 Clubs throughout 87 nations. Skål
International is governed by an executive committee of seven members,
elected by delegates to an annual general assembly, held during the world
congress, hosted by a different country each year.
This year the 67th Skål World Congress will take place in Thailand on
15th-20th October 2006, in Pattaya, to coincide with the King’s 60th
anniversary. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the Skål movement
in Thailand. It is an extremely important event for the industry; if
successful the country stands to gain from increased visitor arrivals in the
future.
Supported by the Chonburi Provincial Administration, Pattaya Business &
Tourism Association, Pattaya City, Thai Airways International, the Thailand
Convention & Exhibition Bureau and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the
event should attract close to 1,200 delegates.
Thailand is also host to a number of other major tourism events in 2006
including the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Conference in April
this year and the ITCMA for the industry’s meetings and incentive
specialists, in October.
With the scheduled Royal Barge procession taking place on the 12th June
2006, attended by many heads of states from around the world, it is going to
be a busy and hopefully successful year for the tourism industry. The only
barriers that remain are acts of God, social, economic and political
factors; we are very optimistic, however.
After years of fielding off natural disasters, including SARS, bird flu and
the tsunami, the industry is keeping its fingers crossed that 2006 will
continue to be tourism’s grand year.
Andrew J Wood is a long time resident of Thailand and general manager of
Chaophya Park Hotel & Resorts.
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