Innovation Norway apologises for Sommarøy story

Innovation Norway regret that we have initiated a story about Sommarøy in Troms wanting to stop time, in which it was not made clear that this was a marketing campaign from Innovation Norway and Visit Norway.

Media both nationally and internationally carried the story of Sommarøy in Troms wanting to become a time-free society. This is the result of a campaign Innovation Norway created, and our involvement in this campaign has not been clearly communicated. We apologise for this.

One of Innovation Norway’s assignments from the government is to profile Norway as a tourist destination. The goal for this specific campaign was to create an unconventional campaign to create attention about Norway and Northern Norway in particular, as a travel destination.

Innovation Norway's assignment is to market, contribute to and be a competence partner for the Norwegian tourism industry. We are in daily contact with tourism operators all over the country, who all want attention to their destinations and products. It is important for Innovation Norway to base its activities on facts and knowledge about tourism and business development.

– We must aim be an open, transparent and reliable player, and therefore we take this matter very seriously, says CEO Håkon Haugli.

– We are now reviewing our routines for campaigns of this type, says Haugli.

The initiative behind the campaign came from Innovation Norway. Local players at Sommarøy and our international advertising agency were partners in the campaign.

contact: media@innovasjonnorge.no