PHOTO: The Northern Lights dance above a Hurtigruten ship in Norway. (Courtesy of Hurtigruten)
Is it the "Frozen" factor? The smashing success of the Disney movie, which now ranks as the highest-grossing animated film in history with over $1 billion earned, continues to drive tourists to Norway.
Hurtigruten, the company that cruises 1,500 miles along Norway's West Coast year-round, is seeing double-digit increases in business.
"Norway at the moment is seeing fantastic growth," said Gordon Dirker, managing director-North America for Hurtigruten, a 121-year-old company that carries passengers, along with packages and cargo, to remote Norwegian villages. "Our Norway bookings are up 25 percent for next year, and we already were up 20 percent this year. We're on course to double the business, as we set out to do a year ago."
Dirker credits "Frozen" with driving some of that new business, but says other factors contribute, such as promotion of UNESCO sites in Norway and the company's own "massive campaign" about the Northern Lights to stimulate winter sales.
"It's a prosperous country," he added. "You can go there without having to worry about the nasty stuff going on in the world."
Plus, more travelers are booking bucket-list travel, and Norway is one of the places to go to see the Aurora Borealis. "Norway is the right spot, in the middle of it all," Dirker said. "We are definitely seeing Norway in the spotlight more than it used to be."
For a taste of the Northern Lights experience from a Hurtigruten ship in the winter, watch this video, courtesy of Hurtigruten.
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