Spotlight interview
Interview with Caroline Achton Friis-Ellis, Business Development Manager UK/US, Greenland Travel
1. What do you find valuable about ETOA membership?
I am a BIG fan of ETOA! In my career, I have been a member with three different companies, all with very different business strategies and ETOA has always proven to give the best value for money!
There are organisations you only join because you want access to their membership database. ETOA, however, is a membership you fiercely guard from budget cuts because it not only puts you in a (virtual) room with some of the most important tour operators of this world – you also get unfailing support, access to world-class research and the backing of a team, who genuinely wants to help me and my business to succeed.
2. Tell us about your favourite experience in Greenland and why buyers should consider this for their clients from worldwide markets.
Ever since I visited Greenland for the first time as a 7-year old, the enormous vastness of the country has baffled me. You cannot help but feel like a very small creature standing on top of a very big planet. I think it is a feeling we ALL need to feel at least once in our lives: it is as thought provoking as it is inspiring.
Working for a destination as exotic as Greenland is a privilege, Greenland Travel is actively helping shape the future of the tourism industry in a country which still has an abundance of authentic experiences to explore. It is important that we develop tour products that international travellers want but also fit in with the local way of life.
3. What special initiatives is your company implementing that you would like to share?
Thanks to the actions of the Danish and Greenlandic authorities, Greenland has so far been largely unharmed by the pandemic. Only 16 cases have been identified up until October (no fatalities).
Since April Greenland Travel has tried to keep updated on hygiene research and advice published by international organisations so we, in turn, could advise our partners in Greenland how to best prepare for post-Covid travel – the ETOA Coronavirus Hub has been hugely important in that regard!
As we are preparing for a more prosperous 2021 we have introduced more flexible cancellation terms: for tours departing up until the end of August 2021, we offer free cancellation between 15 to 30 days before departure. This is to encourage travellers to plan for the future.
We have to keep remembering H.C Andersens quote: To travel is to live!
