Confused by Norwegian Coastal
Voyage's name change to Hurtigruten?
There's actually more to be confused about. The company's name
actually has several pronunciations, depending on where you are in
the world.
TC learned that most
Norwegians do not pronounce the G (Hurti-ruten), but those
in the company's hometown of Bergen, Norway, don't pronounce the
first R (Hoo-ti-gruten). And in the Netherlands, where the
line's president, Hans Rood, is from, the first U is pronounced
like an O and the first R is silent, as in
Ho-ti-gruten.
Remember when the
company was known as Bergen Line? Sigh ...
At an
industry golf event in Northern Ireland last week,
U.S. Tour Operators Association President Bob
Whitley was enjoying what he felt was unusually sunny
weather for this time of year.
But some news passed
along by Irish Hotel Federation chief John Power
dampened his mood considerably: At the end of 2008, a VAT will be
imposed on tours booked to Ireland, except for those booked by
Irish tour operators.
"Expect a letter,"
Whitley told event host Tourism
Ireland.
With
Ritz-Carlton's resort and residential entry into the
luxury Cap Cana project under development on the
eastern tip of the Dominican Republic, can other Marriott brands be
far behind?
Marriott boss
J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr. hinted at that when he expressed
hope that "one or more of our other hotel brands also will fit in
with Cap Cana's plans for this world class destination."
Cap Cana comprises
30,000 acres -- TC guesses there is more than enough room for
additional hotel brands.
TC thinks
it's appropriate that it was a representative of a
Vienna-based airline who recently made a Freudian slip before a
group of journalists.
At a lunch last week
to announce its new private jet service to connect transatlantic
passengers arriving in Vienna to points onward, Austrian
Airlines exec Paul Paflik said that "our main Star
Alliance partnership in the U.S. is with Lufthansa."
Having uttered the
name of his chief rival in the alliance, he recovered quickly.
"Whoops. I mean United. Perhaps [Lufthansa] would like to
be."