Kristen Strangfeld & Robert Keddy of Icelandair's North American head office in BOS
Chef Alfred Alfredsson serves some marinated smoked salmon
Maria Bjork Gunnarsdottir of Elding Adventures at Sea
Travel Network's Oddny Bjorg Halldorsdottir & Janet Simic
Take a group of charming men and women who can all knit, add an entertaining ambassador, sprinkle in some Nordic food and some great live music and what do you have?
A wonderful evening hosted by Iceland, which took place last week at YTO’s famous King Edward Hotel.
The trade show proved a great time for 13 Icelandic tour operators who showcased their surprisingly diverse product. Did you know you can whale watch under the midnight sun? Maria Björk Gunnaarsdottir of Adventures at Sea also offers fishing outings. Oddny Björg Halldorsdottir of Icelandic Farm Holidays can set your clients up at a charming rural hotel or on a working farm stay where they can help milk the cows if they wish. Or for something a little more mainstream, you can contact Berglind Valdimarsdottir at Grayline Iceland Excursions: they have 50 different sized coaches and amongst others, offer a popular 8 hr. Golden Circle tour. (With gas in Iceland costing some $2/gallon it can be expensive driving.)
The biggest news of the evening is that FI is now flying year round between YYZ and REK on its all-B757 fleet. The YYZ service will be 4 times weekly; while there are 3 seasonal flights weekly from YHZ. “And the fact that you can stop off in Reykjavik for 2 to 3 days enroute to Europe at no surcharge is a huge selling point,” said Robert Keddy, Sales Manager, The Americas for Icelandair. “It’s definitely a bragging rights thing.”
Icelandic Ambassador to Canada Thordur Aegir Oskarsson also took to the podium, pointing out the strong cultural ties between Canada and his homeland, which has a population of just 320,000. “We have one foot in Europe and one foot in the Americas,” he said before encouraging the some 160 travel agents in the room to come and visit “this tiny little society out in the ocean.”
And then we were all massively entertained by the charming musician duo Asgeir Trausti and Julius.
Oh, and the knitting thing? Every boy and girl in Iceland learns to knit in school, starting at age 9.
If you’d like to see more of this quirky and fascinating country, check out this promotional video – probably my favourite ever travel video.
