And so it begins! New direct flights between Miami and Stockholm begin via @SAS; @Arlanda ๐ซ ๐ฌ @iflymia ๐ด๐️๐ ๐ #flysas #wearetravelers
Above, the State of Florida's classic 1970's national TV tourism ad that I've posted on the blog many times before. This spot ad was hugely-popular and successful, especially in the Midwest and East Coast, and was by far THE best tourism TV ad the state has ever produced. To this day, it still makes people smile when they see it or hear that catchy jingle, "When You Need It Bad We've Got It Good."
But in a much-more competitive travel marketplace than existed over thirty years ago, with so many disparate consumer markets, and different ways of reaching out to prospective travelers, it seems to me that we need to see the state come up with something new that's just as compelling as this was. http://www.youtube.com/embed/OxB0kjqO6SI
Today I wanted to follow-up with some specificity on my blog post of this past Saturday, April 20th, which had some great news that some of you readers of the blog might want to take full-advantage of in the near-future -just like me- regarding a game-changing marketing move
A move that will simultaneously make travel to a dynamic part of the world more convenient and cheaper, while also offering local Broward County-area hotels, restaurants and hospitality-related businesses an entrรฉe to an affluent English-speaking tourism market -esp. families- that they have barely even begun to scratch:Scandinavia:
Scandinavian Delight! Starting November 30th, fly nonstop between Ft Lauderdale and Oslo on Norwegian.com for as low as $238, or fly from FLL to Stockholm Arlanda for only $269, plus taxes and luggage charges; @Oslo, @norway, @stockholm, @sweden
A comparable round-trip flight on SAS to Oslo or Stockholm, even in Economy and made weeks in advance, is well over $1,000, as I know from experience in January.
Compare that to whatNorwegian.com will offer starting in late November, with a direct flight to Oslo from FLL.
And coming back this way, with these flights, Broward is now much-cheaper airfare-wise, than flying from Stockholm or Oslo to The Maldives, a very popular vacation spot for Swedish families that's heavily-promoted, along with, of course, Thailand.
The latter is a holiday travel location that many Swedish families have been to so many times before that at least some of their kids are actually blah towards going there again. (Really.)
And since I neglected to mention it in Saturday's post, or so far today, you should know that Norwegian.com is the fastest-growing airline in Europe and has already placed orders for 200 new airplanes.
Here are two photos from my blog of some travel-related advertising I snapped while I in Stockholm in January, and trust me, these display ads are everywhereyou look.
You literally can not escape them.
And that's in part because they work so well.
Especially when it's 17 degrees Fahrenheit and sundown is at 3:45 p.m.
Not surprisingly, this ad was in heavy rotation during morning TV news shows, so much so that I started hearing this jingle in my head by my 3rd day in Stockholm.
As a friend who's a travel professional in Sweden explained to me, since I didn't know myself, flights from Oslo or Stockholm to The Maldives or to FLL are roughly the same time-wise.
But if you compare the costs of airfare using Norwegian.com, NOW flying to FLL from Scandinavia is a ridiculous bargain, by hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and is a bargain that is multiplied by each person who flies here.
After being over there and getting a small sense of how things are done, my own opinion is that the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) needs to really increase their advertising and marketing dollars in Scandinavia and start working on some compelling co-op advertising with Norwegian.comthat they can start running this Fall, before the twice-weekly flights start. http://www.sunny.org/
It seems to me that we need to do this to make sure that the airline's strategy (gamble) works to everyone's satisfaction, and then at some point, they can increase the number of flights or days they fly between FLL and Oslo, whose still-new-looking airport is, in a word, sweet.
Since HB's beach is so woefully unattractive and poorly-maintained, the local postcards that I gave to some business people I met-and the new friends that I made- in Stockholm were entirely of Hollywood Beach and The Broadwalk.
Trust me, people I spoke to there in all sort sof places around Stockholm were very intrigued by what I told them about the area, esp. after hearing them relate some of the daily hassles they deal with when they go to Thailand and other tropical places.
They're looking for new places to visit, so why not our part of the world?
Savvy and enterprising individuals, companies and firms from South Florida to Sweden can now finally reach the affluent, well-informed and influential decision-makers in South Florida and beyond who regularly read Hallandale Beach Blog and its Twitter feed for the facts, nuanced insight and original analysis they can't get elsewhere, and do so via VERY REASONABLE advertising on the blog, at prices starting at just $85 a month. Contact me today for more details at hallandalebeachblog@gmail.com
Above, in the foreground, a Norwegian.com plane alongside one from SAS and Thai Airways on the tarmac at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, around 12:39 p.m. (I told you it was overcast most of my trip!) This particular plane has famed Swedish botanistCarl Linnaeus a.k.a. Carl von Linnรฉ, featured on its tail. His face also appears on the 100 Swedish krona note, the smallest bill with a security foil strip. As I have blogged about before here, he's scheduled to be replaced on that bill by gorgeous Greta Garbo'sface. Ah, Garbo! January 10, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. (c) 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved
Meant to post something about this valuable bit of great news a few months ago when I first got the news from someone in-the-know, but it's still worth mentioning all these weeks later now that it was officially made public on Tuesday. And it's a real game-changer, too. Starting November 30th, you can fly nonstop between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood and Oslo on Norwegian twice a week starting at $238 each way,plus taxes and luggage charges. Norwegian's departures from Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood will be on Mondays and Fridays at 9:30 p.m, arriving in Oslo at 12:35 p.m.the following day.
Departures from Oslo are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3:10 p.m., arriving at Ft. Lauderdale at 7:30 p.m. Eastern the same day.
The Aurora -Terje Sorgjerd spent a week in northern Norway near Kirkenes, close to the Russian border, and somewhat to his own amazement, captures some astounding video of the aurora borealis in clarity and action that has rarely been seen before. http://vimeo.com/21294655
To get a sense of how very far North he was when he shot this video near Kirkenes, that's almost exactly the same as the northern-most point in Alaska. I just checked on Kirkenes and right now, the temp there feels like 6 °F.
I remember 6 degrees -and lower- in Bloomington in January of 1982, one of the brightest sunniest days I ever experienced, where the snow was literally blindingly bright. We eventually had wind chills of -40 to -50 below zero, and I remember it so well because it was the same week the Chargers played at the Bengals for the AFC Championship, the week after beating the Dolphins here in Miami, where I'd watched the game on TV near my mother's home near The Falls. The weather there in Cincinnati was the same as it was at IU, a couple of hours east.
MSNBC photoblog: Northern lights, like never seen before Article at:http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/23/6329101-northern-lights-like-never-seen-before?chromedomain=cosmiclog
Other examples of Terje Sorgjerd's talent at: http://vimeo.com/terjes And also shot from cold northern Norway,Ole Christian Salomonsen, andIn The Land Of The Northern Lights
http://vimeo.com/arcticlightphoto Just imagine what the Vikings must've thought about on their sea journeys at night with no land or torch lights visible for miles, and then suddenly seeing these images flash across the sky? Their own insignificance?