News   •   January 17th, 2024

Unforgettable Journeys Await: Cashel Travel Sets Sail for Scandinavia with United Spirit Nordic

Embark on an extraordinary British and Irish adventure with Cashel Travel, now hand-in-hand with renowned travel experts United Spirit Nordic! This exciting partnership unlocks a world of seamless travel experiences, crafted specifically for Scandinavian explorers.

Unmatched Local Expertise: United Spirit Nordic’s dedicated team, fluent in the nuances of the Scandinavian market, is delighted to represent Cashel who will curate tailor-made journeys that perfectly capture your Nordic spirit. Imagine your clients traversing rugged Scottish landscapes, indulging in the vibrant culture of London, or teeing off on a world-class Irish golf course – all meticulously planned with your clients’ preferences in mind.

Shared Values, Boundless Opportunities: Christine Engen, Managing Director of United Spirit Nordic, mirrors Cashel Travel’s unwavering commitment to exceptional service and in-depth market knowledge. This shared passion fuels their enthusiasm for the partnership, promising a horizon brimming with unforgettable travel possibilities.

A Legacy of Excellence: Cashel Travel, a family-owned powerhouse with decades of experience, brings a wealth of expertise to the table. Their team of over 35 multilingual travel experts, including fellow Scandinavians from Norway, are united by a shared passion for crafting dream vacations. Whether you seek intimate FIT adventures, luxurious getaways, or exhilarating group tours, Cashel Travel excels in delivering comprehensive solutions across England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.

From Corporate Gatherings to Grand Celebrations: Cashel Travel boasts an impressive track record, having flawlessly executed events of all sizes, from intimate corporate meetings to grand conferences exceeding 2,000 attendees. Their expertise in crafting bespoke incentives throughout the UK and Ireland ensures every detail is meticulously considered, leaving you with memories that will last a lifetime.

Ready to chart your own Nordic course? Dive deeper into Cashel Travel’s world of unforgettable experiences and discover why Scandinavia awaits with open arms.

Click here to embark on your Nordic adventure with Cashel Travel!

See reviews on Trustpilot.

News   •   January 13th, 2023

United Spirit Nordic team participated in Norway’s leading B2B event in Oslo

United Spirit Nordic was present at the B2B Travel fair Travel Match 2023 in Oslo, representing 5 clients. 

We represented the Caribbean destination St. Martin,  The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism in Oman, the DMC Arabian Adventures and DMC Destination Asia. Finally, we also had the Saudi Tourism Authority present, under the good care of Agnes, our newest colleague on the Saudi team. 

TravelMatch is the largest B2B event, gathering most of the travel trade professionals in Norway. The setup is speed-dating – with 15-minute pre-booked meetings and scheduled breaks for networking. It has proven successful and efficient, appreciated by buyers and exhibitors. 

It was a perfect chance to meet with Norwegian travel trade and media in person in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Our team engaged in fruitful conversations with existing and prospective partners: travel agents, aviation stakeholders, travel journalists, and influencers. 

Grand Travel Award is the yearly event celebrating the Norwegian travel trade with award ceremonies. It takes place every year on the evening, after Trave lMatch. This is a great way to end a productive day, celebrating the personas and companies that make this industry so special.

The Grand Travel Awards 2023 was a unique and rewarding event to witness, not least because it was the first time back after the Covid-19 pandemic. As the awards were distributed based on 2022 results, there were many emotional speeches about the hard times endured during the pandemic lockdown. 

Most notably, two arch-competitors in Norway – Thon Hotels and Nordic Choice Hotels, jointly received the honorary award. This is the first time two competitors are awarded the honorary award together. But the conditions faced under the pandemic were unprecedented. 

The CEOs of each company, Morten Thorvaldsen and Torgeir Silseth, respectively, received the prize and had a moment on stage, where they acknowledged the strength in joining forces had been necessary during hard times. 

The next TravelMatch and Grand Travel Award in Norway will be on January 11th, 2024 (link til TravelMatch) 

News   •   April 24th, 2022

The latest Nordic Economic Outlook report from Danske Bank has confirmed what most of us already knew about the Nordic outlook.

• The Nordic economies were recovering well post-pandemic as covid restrictions were removed. Growth has been strong and the increased demand for labour has seen low unemployment and even some labour shortages in key sectors.
• The Russian invasion of Ukraine has started to put the brakes on that recovery. It has been pushing up energy prices and to a lesser extent food and other commodity prices.
• This supply led inflation is not being matched by a rise in wages. It will cause a real reduction in purchasing power, at least in the short term.
• There are clear signals that interest rates are on the way up
• The average consumer is however in a reasonable place with a strong job market and historically high levels of savings. This will be providing some cushion against current uncertainties.
• With the exception of Finland and its strong trading ties to Russia, all Nordic countries are relatively well placed compared to their European counterparts.

We concur with the Danske Bank base case that the war in Ukraine will continue this year but will not expand outside Ukraine.

So what is this scenario likely to mean for the Nordic outbound travel market.

We think Summer 22 will bring some good news for the travel industry with the recovery of international travel remaining strong

• Geopolitical uncertainty is never good for international travel. This will undoubtedly cause some people to holiday at home. But it is pent up demand for wider travel post-pandemic and most still intend to travel internationally this year, funding trips both from current income and savings.
• The prices of overseas holidays may be higher than anticipated. Mostly not least because of increased fuel costs, but the currently expected increases will not deter travellers who have foregone such holidays for the past two years.

For travel beyond this summer, we are still optimistic that the recovery will continue. We do think that the current headwinds may cause travel decisions to be delayed until closer to planned departure dates.

Of course, that could all change if things play out differently in Ukraine.

If you like to keep updated on the Nordic travel market, be sure to follow our Nordic market news blog.   It is updated weekly with the relevant news from the Nordic Travel Trade.

Source: Danske Bank Nordic outlook report

News Online

BLOG: News update in English about the Nordic travel industry

Below is the United Spirit Nordic online blog. It includes commentary and links to articles from all the Nordic countries’ travel trade media.

we update this blog regularly. As we strive to include updates from reliable news outlets and official government/agency bulletins. This is your connection to the Nordic market with all the updates you need about the market.

News   •   June 4th, 2021

The Nordic full-service agency Related, with several international tourist destinations on the client list, just entered into a strategic partnership with the PR and marketing agency United Spirit Nordic who are also specialized in the tourism industry.

The agencies Related and United Spirit Nordic who are both specialized within PR, marketing, and sales within the travel industry now enter into a strategic partnership aiming to let both parties draw on each other’s experience and knowledge.

– Both Related and United Spirit Nordic have been in the industry for many years and as companies we share the same values – both relating to our employees and our clients. Through this partnership we believe that we can make each other better. It also gives more flexibility to both parties since it gives us additional capacity in busy periods. Further, the clients on both sides can benefit from the additional, strong competences we both get added, says Henrik Koch, CEO and owner of Related, who are Nordic representatives for the Maldives, Japan, Dubai, Malta, Flanders and more.

 – The complementary skills and experience of United Spirit Nordic and Related will add a new dimension for both organizations. Both companies have built strong brands in the Nordic market and this strategic partnership will further enhance this position. We look forward to working with Henrik and his team to deliver additional value for all our clients.” Says Christine Engen, owner of United Spirit Nordic, who are the Nordic representatives for Jamaica Tourist Office among others

As part of this partnership, United Spirit Nordic will also be part of the network Related Minds which is currently under development and will be fully established within the coming half year.

– Related Minds will be an umbrella organization for Related and our sister companies and strategic partners – and relates to the way we are, work, and act like companies. Related Minds is a common set of values, visions, and processes across all companies; both in terms of how we are as a workplace and as business partners, explains Henrik Koch.

Related and United Spirits Nordic will now use the coming months on aligning and streamlining processes and procedures and have already slowly started drawing on each other’s competencies.

About United Spirit Nordic

United Spirit Nordic is a Copenhagen based PR and marketing agency specialized in the tourism industry. The agency was founded by Norwegian Christine Engen in 2003. United Spirit Nordic handles PR, communication, marketing and sales in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. The client list includes Jamaica, Viva Cruises, Destination Asia, Abama Luxury Residences, Arabian Adventures and Access Holidays. United Spirit Nordic has office in Copenhagen.

www. unitedspiritnordic.com

News   •   November 26th , 2020

We are experiencing what we call the “second wave” coming over Europe and other parts of the world these days. But how is the Nordic market, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark operating and working through the “wave”.

Denmark outlook for certain normality in September 2021

If we look at Denmark and numbers as of November 26^th, they have done 7,127,052 tests. There are currently 75.395 active cases and 59.250 have recovered, 811 died. Totally 244 people are in hospital, where 42 are in intensive care, and of those 23 are on ventilators. Most of these are in the capital and surrounding area. The age group most infected are 20-29 years, the age group most hospitalized are 80-89 years.

Denmark has already an agreement with Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca and the government has said that Denmark will start a vaccination program soon as EMA has approved the vaccines. They are expecting to start vaccination end of December or the beginning of January, and health authorities say that they will use the test tents around the country for vaccinations to ensure that no time is wasted to get the vaccine out to the ones that need it most. The vaccine will be distributed in 4 phases starting with front-line workers, high-risk groups, and people in critical sectors then moving towards an unlimited version driven by demand. Experts predict that normality will return back earliest after the summer holiday of 2021.

Arriving in Norway you need a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours

Norway’s numbers look slightly different from Denmark. It is a larger country where people are more spread out. They have tested 2.224,045 people, had 34.267 reported cases, of these 1.628 have been admitted to hospital with 320 in intensive care. There are 316 dead, the largest age group is 80 – 90+. The age group 20-29 years have the most infection. Bergen and Oslo are areas with the highest infection rates.

Anyone arriving from “red” countries must present a certificate of negative COVID-19 test when they arrive in Norway. The test must be taken less than 72 hours before entry. If they do not present a certificate, they may be refused entry. The requirement does not apply to Norwegians, people living in Norway, people in transit, or people who frequently cross the border into Norway from Sweden and Finland to work.

People arriving in Norway from abroad must be in quarantine for 10 days, with the exception of specified countries in Europe with the sufficiently low transmission (yellow areas and countries). Currently, only certain regions in Finland and Greenland are listed as yellow areas.

Interestingly Norway is probably one of the most digital countries in Europe, and at the moment most restaurants, shops, cafes, kiosks don’t accept cash at all.

Norway is part of the EU cooperation, with the vaccine approval going through the EU-system. If Modena which EU has agreed to buy up to 160 million vaccines from are approved, Norway will quickly be able to distribute the vaccine within 2-3 weeks through their health system to the high risk-groups and frontline workers and then further out to all on-demand. Norway is hopeful to start vaccinating their inhabitants in Q1 2021.

Sweden has the highest number of confirmed cases in the Nordic market

FILE PHOTO: State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell of the Public Health Agency of Sweden

Sweden has had a slightly different approach to the virus and how to fight it. Sweden has a population of almost 11 million and is larger than the other Nordic countries. They have had 236,355 confirmed cases, 3,187 have been in intensive care and they have had 6.622 deaths. Cases are largest in the age group 20-29 years but almost the same for the group 30 -59 years. Age 89-90+ years have the highest death rate.  At the moment 220 are in intensive care. In the past day, 5 841 new cases were reported.

Sweden is also part of EU cooperation and is waiting for EMA approval. Vaccinations are planned to start in Sweden in January 2021 if everything goes as planned with the approval of the vaccines currently in the approval phase. The groups being offered the vaccine first will be high-risk groups, persons age 70 and above, and front line workers before going out to the rest of the people. Vaccinations will be voluntary and free of charge.

Finland will introduce a traffic light system by November 25th

Finland has had the strictest measures among the Nordic countries during the pandemic. As of November 25^th, they have had 22 652 confirmed cases, 16 800 have recovered, which is over 70% of reported cases. Totally 388 deaths have been reported.

Finland has from November 25^th introduced the traffic light system. Most of Europe is red with a recommended 10-day self-quarantine if you arrive from any of these countries. You can shorten a voluntary quarantine by taking two voluntary tests. On arrival a negative test no more than 72 hours old and then take another test until at least 72 hours after the arrival. Arriving from any green country you don’t need to quarantine. Interestingly Thailand, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Rwanda, and Vatican City are on the green list.

Daily traffic across the land borders between Finland, Sweden, and Norway continues to be possible between border communities without quarantine or testing.  It is possible to go to work in Sweden and Estonia from Finland without a voluntary 10-day quarantine or tests.

Finland is currently looking at three coronavirus vaccine options. KRAR (National vaccination expert group) recommend Finland to purchase on mRNA vaccine, similar to the Pfizer vaccine. They have revealed the vaccine will be available to around 10% of the population in the beginning and then more widely afterward. The principle that a national vaccination program is free of charge will apply to the coronavirus vaccine too.