Havila Voyages wins prestigious award

The Norwegian tourism industry has spoken – Havila Voyages has been named the cruise ferry company of the year at the Grand Travel Awards 2024.

On Thursday evening, the tourism industry celebrated itself with the traditional Grand Travel Awards at Wallmans in Oslo. A jury selects the nominees in each category, and employees at travel agencies then vote for the winners in each category. In the category of "Cruise Ferry Company of the Year with traffic in or to Norway," Havila Voyages was nominated and ultimately received the coveted prize.

“First and foremost, it's very nice to be voted on by people in the tourism industry. We greatly appreciate that. At the same time, this is recognition of the work we have done in a challenging startup phase," said CEO Bent Martini, who, along with his colleagues, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

Tourism is defined as an important export effort for Norway. The industry was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic but is now on its way back to normalcy.

“Tourism is important for Norwegian value creation. We contribute to jobs and growth throughout our vast country, while people from all corners of the world get to experience all the fantastic things Norway has to offer”.

“The fact that we, as an industry, can come together on an evening like this to exchange experiences and celebrate ourselves is very pleasant, and this award is a motivation for us to work even harder to provide a unique experience along the Norwegian coast," Martini concluded.

Nominees in the category "Cruise Ferry Company of the Year with traffic in or to Norway":
Color Line
DFDS
Hurtigruten
Fjord Line
Havila Voyages

The jury for the Grand Travel Awards 2024:
Tom Andersson, Editor, TravelNews Media (jury leader)
Karen Tucker, Sales Director Nordics, RCL
Audun Pedersen, Industry Director Tourism, Virke
Tor Johan Pedersen, CEO, Escape Travel*
Kristin Krohn Devold, CEO, NHO Reiseliv
Per Arne Tuftin, Director, Norwegian Tourism
David Kurtz, CEO, Travel News Media

*Ineligible in the category "Ferry Company of the Year with traffic in or to Norway" due to a previous role as Sales and Marketing Director at Havila Voyages.