MICE MEETS SCANDESIGN
By Nelleke Pruijs

A reconnaissance trip into the land of Scandinavian design and architecture organised by SAS Scandinavian Airlines and the Øresund Region.
With thanks to Hilde De Bruyne, Customer & Media Relations SAS,
Troonstraat 130, 1050 Brussels
hilde.deBruyne@sas.dk
http://www.scandinavian.net

THREE SCANDINAVIAN MICE DESTINATIONS
Thanks to SAS Scandinavian Airlines and Hilde we arrived at Copenhagen Airport at the expected arrival time. This trip was to take me on a journey of three Scandinavian MICE destinations: Copenhagen, Malmö and Oslo.

Our first stop was ‘ Hotel The Square ' just around the corner from Tivoli Gardens. The hotel opened earlier this year and belongs to the ‘ Arp-Hansen Hotel Group'. The hotel is one of the few design hotels in Denmark. It offers 192 rooms, although it is a 3 star property, the hotel is exceptional and excellent value for money. They offer a variety of conference facilities and a seating capacity ranging from 10 to 120 persons. There is no business centre and the restaurant just offers breakfast at the moment. However the rooms are well equipped and very modern, furniture is dark and minimalist, particular attention is given to lighting which gives the room a great atmosphere.

We were told that Copenhagen offers excellent nightlife but the otherwise busy NyHavn district was very quiet that evening, (I must admit it was a Wednesday) but I had expected more from such a cosmopolitan city.
http://www.arp-hansen.dk/square/square01.html

STATE OF THE ART
Early the next morning we visited the ‘ Danish Design Centre '. The Danish Design Centre (DDC) is a promotional organization established to increase the awareness of design. Its vision: ‘ Making Danish design a brand that is known and used all over the world for its unique quality'.

It offers conference rooms and a centrally located open lobby hall, which can be used as a banquet facility. When we arrived the lobby had just been set up for a breakfast meeting, a suitably jazzy tune was playing from an upcoming Danish jazz singer called Ditte. The lobby gives the impression that it is also used as a reading and educational area, copies of famous design magazines such as Spruce, Domus and Wallpaper are scattered around beside the colourful chairs and side tables.

The DDC conference rooms are state-of-the-art equipped with the most modern audiovisual equipment. The main restaurant can also be used as a large meeting room or set up with tables for individual breakout sessions. It has a unique view over the Tivoli gardens and seats a maximum of 168 pax. The B&O sound system used in DDC can give any venue that extra musical touch. The building was designed by famous Danish architect Henning Larsen and opened in 2000.
http://www.ddc.dk/

At 09.30 a taxi took us to the ‘ Modern Art Museum ' in Louisiana . The 40-minute drive from the centre of Copenhagen is quite long, but you can also take the train from the central station. By train it will take visitors 36 minutes to the Humelbak/Louisiana station. To the Museum it is about a 10-minute walk.

A beautiful Henry Moore sculpture welcomes visitors at the entrance to the private collection. Louisiana was holding a temporary exhibition by painter Roy Lichtenstein and the architect Renzo Piano . Entrance fee to the collection costs about 72 DK, but there are discounts for groups over 15 pax.

Susanna Hartz , PR-person of the Museum, took some moments to introduce our little group of journalists to the facility, while standing on the lawn at the back of the main house where an amazing collection of sculptures awaited us, with a backdrop of the Øresund sea just beyond a magnificent example by Henry Moore . We were anxious to get started.

It houses an exquisite collection of modern art by international artists such as Arp, Francis Bacon, Calder, Dubuffet, Max Ernst, Sam Francis, Giacometti, Kiefer, Henry Moore, Picasso, Rauschenberg and Warhol. The museum also houses one of the largest collections of Giacometti sculptors in the world.

During the summer one can visit the collection on Wednesdays until 10 pm and enjoy dinner in the restaurant overlooking the sea accompanied by a classical concert. These are apparently very popular events. The best thing about the museum is its location on the shore of the Øresund Sea . This means that all conference facilities and venues are two steps from the beach. The museum restaurant has seating inside and outside on the surrounding terrace for up to 280 persons. It was a lovely day so we enjoyed a cup of coffee and Danish pastries on the terrace. To rent the entire venue, count on an approximate cost of 48,000 DK per evening, including entry to the exhibition, gardens and the use of the two boat houses/conference rooms on the seafront, a larger auditorium style space with terraced seating and audiovisual equipment on standby.
http://www.louisiana.dk/english

After the visit to the Louisiana museum, which was obviously too short, we undertook a 15 minute drive to Klampenburg and the resort town designed by Arne Jacobsen. We had lunch at the restaurant named after the architect/designer, which was not a particular coincidence as he designed the building and the adjacent Bellevue Theatre. After lunch Jacob Mosgard filled us in on the future development of the seaside town to be called Bellevue Beach Park, which anticipates the construction of a House of the Future and as Jacobsen had intended it in 1929, would stand on the seafront across from the restaurant. This small white beach town including all beach and seaside facilities, was designed by Jacobsen in 1936, the designer died early in 1971 before all the plans had been completed.

Jacob Mosgard is a local entrepreneur who has plans to develop the area including plans for a conference facility for over 1,000 pax within the next 5 years. Investors interested in the project can contact Jacob Mosgard. An estimated amount of 72 million Euros will be needed to complete the project.
http://www.laniqa.com/momoneco/bellevue_bellavista.php
http://www.houseofarnejacobsen.dk
http://www.restaurantjacobsen.dk/conceptet.htm

Later that afternoon we arrived back in Copenhagen in the Nyman district to enjoy a peaceful cruise in the harbour and see the sights of Copenhagen from one of the large open canal boats. Ulrike Mårtensson, representative of 'Wonderful Copenhagen ' and who was in charge of the programme, met us at the boat stop in the colourful old harbour. Although she was also hosting an international convention that day, she still found time to guide us through the remainder of our stay in Copenhagen. The boat trip was a relaxing moment in our busy schedule and it was a great way to familiarize ourselves with the town's most famous sights, which was to include ' the little mermaid' (unfortunately she had gone in for some retouches as she had been thrown off her rock into the water by vandals a few days earlier).

Copenhagen has many new attractions and is a centre of contemporary arts, design and architecture. The town has new eateries and cafes opening nearly every week, lofts turned meeting space or trendy restaurants, houseboat cafes or jazzy bars and music venues; you can't seem to turn any corner without running into the next Danish (of course) beer tap. Private boats are available to those wishing to wine and dine clients out in the picturesque harbours full of sailing boats and elegant canals. The boat trip takes you under several very low bridges, so better watch your head!!

Wonderful Copenhagen is a one-stop meeting planners contact for Copenhagen and the official CVB of the Greater Copenhagen Area.
http://www.woco.dk

In the early evening we were rushed to the station for the train over the Øresund Bridge to the Swedish city of Malmö.

The ‘ Hotel Temperance ' was to host us for the last night of our stay in the region. In fact the hotel had not quite finished refurbishment when we arrived so not all the facilities were available to be viewed. In October the ‘ Hotel Temperance ' will be upgraded from a Comfort to a Clarion Hotel of the Choice Hotel Group . It will then boast 126 brand new modern rooms, 4 conference rooms: 2 for 60 pax, 1 for 20 pax and a smaller breakout room for about 10 pax. The hotel has been decorated to suit the trendy design styles with a touch of a safari motif to add a slight colonial atmosphere.
http://www3.choicehotels.com/ires/en-US/html/DisplayIntlHotels/SE?sid=wpxui.2Rjh55E7Hi.3

Within 15 minutes of our arrival Lars Braedstrup-Holm , Senior Project Manager for Conferences from the city of Malmö had taxi's waiting to run us down to the Malmö racetrack, locally known as ‘ Galoppbanen ' where we would have dinner and drinks whilst watching the horse races. It was an extraordinary experience for most of us, which had never set foot on a racetrack before. The beginning of the evening saw us all enthusiastic players of the horses which became a little subdued when we lost all our earnings on the later races. The racetrack has an interesting atmosphere, the room we were in was called ‘ The Board Room', and could be an excellent place to hold an evening cocktail or an informal meeting, as the buzz of the races does seem to draw people outside on the terrace to watch the horses race the courses.
http://www.malmo.se/congress
http://www.malmo.com/index_eng.htm

Although we were supposed to leave the racetrack at 9.30 we joined our taxis back into town at around 10.30 where after we visited the opening of a new Italian restaurant on the town square. The ‘ beau monde of Malmö ' was very well represented at the new restaurant owned by a team of respected gentlemen who apparently also owned most of the other great restaurants on the town square. On a Thursday evening the square was dazzling with activity and night life which persuaded us to stay and enjoy a bit of nightlife and good finger food.

ALREADY THE END, 22nd OF SEPTEMBER 2003
The next morning we were up bright and early again to enjoy a rickshaw ride to several of Malmö 's interesting spots and sights. On our way to the new residential area around the harbour we passed the elegant casino and old castle museum which dates back to 1556. It is now the municipal museum of the town and combines contemporary art exhibitions with historical exhibits. One can rent the museum for special occasions and it will lend itself well to host a midlevel themed event and we were told that costumed guards can be rented for the evening to stand at the castle gates and the castle walls lit up by torches. Apparently during the day the museum is very popular with school groups. In case holding an event here is considered, one should enquire if the museum can be closed to other visitors for the event.

On the north side of Malmö closer to the harbour stands the Malmö Fessen, a converted SAAB factory, which now hosts large conventions and fairs. This new part of Malmö extends along the northern seafront and merges together with Malmö's newest prestigious housing project to the west of the fairgrounds.

The planning of the area has been thoroughly revised and now the expensive area showcases some stunning residential architecture, the prices of real estate have also risen in the area to a whopping amount of 1,500 – 2,000 SKr per sqm in comparison to the centre of Malmö where prices per sqm run to about 800 SK.

The architecture is courtesy of some of the most famous names in architecture, such as Stig Larsson, Mario Campi, Ralph Erikine and Gregor Dahlstrom, to name but a few. The key is that the housing was to be planned and designed using non-poisonous materials while energy in the area will only be supplied by windmills and solar panels. The whole project is entirely experimental.

Following a very thorough guided tour we returned to the centre of town to the Design Centre of Malmö, located on the town square. Malmö has in fact he oldest Design Centre in Scandinavia, run by a non-profit institution founded in 1885. Entrance to the centre is free. We followed up by more Arts & Design at the Kunst Hallen of Malmö exhibiting photography from a well-known Swedish photographer who died just recently and left most of his collection to the city of Malmö.

The building is designed to replicate the natural lighting one would find in an artists studio, the large white structure which contains large light open spaces are a perfect setting for the mostly modern art exhibitions held here. Lunch a the Kunst Hallen is well recommended as the food tastes home made and is rather creative. An added bonus is that it is relatively inexpensive. We had a two-course lunch including a salad bar and a main dish for about 80 SK each that included wine. Eating outdoors in the secluded courtyard is an option if the weather would allow.

After lunch I headed off from the group to travel on SAS Scandinavian Airlines to Oslo . Oslo is a much under-appreciated destination and rarely comes up as a foremost MICE destination. However in June 2003, the managing director of Oslo Airport, Nic. Nilsen, accepted the award for the world's second best airport among airports with fewer than 15 million passengers. The award was presented in Pittsburgh by the industry magazine Airport World. Also a survey by the Association of European Airlines (AEA) shows that Oslo International Airport (OSL) for the third year running is ranked as Europe 's most punctual airport. In the second and third places we find Helsinki and Stockholm . Gardermoen Airport opened in the autumn of 1998, which makes it nearly 5 years old.

Environmentally friendly is hardly a suitable characterisation of a traffic facility designed for 17 million passengers per year, but the new main airport at Gardermoen was built from scratch, which allowed it to be developed into an environmentally adapted airport. The location in an agricultural area with rural districts to the south and forests to the north avoids Oslo City in respect to noise pollution. The geology, ground water and special natural environment make the area extremely important. The large wood and steel structure was designed by the Norway based architect firm Niels Torp who also designed the Olympic Hall in Hamar ( Norway ) and the headquarters buildings for both Scandinavian Airlines and British Airways. The Gardermoen Airport terminal building evokes warmth and a Nordic tranquillity, which provides a calm and pleasant setting, even when you are late for your flight.
http://www.euran.com/airportoslo.htm
http://www.softxs.ch/alan/photos/gardermoen/
http://www.osl. nglishno/e/ ,

Norway is perhaps best known as a destination of natural beauty and as an incentive destination, however the city has much more to offer with regard to state-of-the-art conference facilities, a efficient infrastructure and of course the friendly Norwegians, sometimes described as the Italians of the North.

I was warned that Oslo may seem a bit slow paced compared to the other Scandinavian capitals, however I found that despite its less grand and bustling nature Oslo is a beautiful, green and warm city which does not subscribe to its reputation as boring and traditional whatsoever. Oslo is perhaps the least influenced by trends and the materialistic culture of our times. People are still very much in touch with their surroundings and the city is not so much a metropole as a grand park with some building scattered here and there.
Get a map of the city from here: http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/maps/oslo_city.gif

As a MICE destination there are many original venues that could be of interest to meeting planners, for example the lovely Akerhus Castle and Fortress which dates back to 1299, which is a stone medieval castle and royal residence which developed into a fortress by 1592. The Castle offers magnificent halls, a Castle church, reception rooms and banqueting halls. At one end of the Karl Johans Gate stands the vanilla- and cream-coloured neoclassical Royal Palace, completed in 1848. Although generally closed to the public, the palace is sometimes open for special guided tours in summer. Oslo offers wonderful museums.

http://museumsnett.kulturnett.no/artikkel.php?navn=museumnet

Of course Oslo is not only about the old and traditional, I discovered trendy new restaurants and terraced cafes at nearly every corner. Although shops in general are less dedicated to the Scandinavia Design traditions as their counterparts in Copenhagen, if you are looking for a reindeer horn candlestick or fur covered stools, suede covered lampshades, Oslo is just the place to go.

A new addition to the Oslo scene is the restaurant Eik owned by a leading entrepreneur. It is adjoined to the newly renovated Hotel Savoy, a three star Choice Hotel Member which is under separate ownership, it is as near as own would get to a design hotel in Oslo. Scandinavian designers furnish the lobby, rooms and restaurant and the stunning colorscheme. The hotel does not have conference facilities, however the restaurant does offer a small private corner for corporate lunches or dinners.

In the harbour, a large number of charter boats offer trips among the many islands of the Oslo fjord. These boats represent a different and increasingly popular way to entertain guests.
For more information on Oslo venues and conference facilities or contact:
Oslo Promotion AS
http://www.visitoslo.com
Grev Wedels plass 4, N-0151 Oslo
Phone: +47 23 10 62 00 Fax: +47 23 10 62 01