World Travel Awards

Press Release
November 2005

Travel Industry Gives Double Oscar to Copenhagen

On Sunday Copenhagen won two World Travel Award prizes as The World's Leading Cruise Port and as Europe's Leading Cruise Destination. Thousands of travel agencies from all over the world voted to decide who should win the prestigious prizes.

The World Travel Awards started in 1993 and are recognised as the travel industry's Oscars. The award ceremony took place on November 13^th at the World Travel Market in London and it was the first time Copenhagen won in the "world category". Last year Copenhagen won the prize as Europe's Leading Cruise Destination.

The prizes are of great importance to Copenhagen because they give the city and the harbour the international travel industry's blue ribbon.

It is because of the city's and the port's efficiency that they were awarded the two prizes: planning everything from arrival to departure in liaison with the cruise lines and agents.

Copenhagen has through the past five to ten years developed its cruise product, its infrastructure and has focused its international marketing campaigns on the city as a cruise destination. This has been achieved through close cooperation with Wonderful Copenhagen and the commercial companies in the Cruise Copenhagen Network who together have worked to develop the city as a cruise destination.

As Per Schmidt, General Manager of Copenhagen Malmö Port and chairman of Cruise Copenhagen Network says,

"The cooperation we have in Cruise Copenhagen Network is the reason we are able to win prizes. It is the joint effort from the port, the airport, SAS, hotels, transport companies, incoming industry, retail businesses, attractions and the tourist organisations Visitdenmark and Wonderful Copenhagen which makes Copenhagen an attractive cruise ship destination. On top of that the harbour has delivered a unique and efficient product. The prize as the world's leading cruise port gives us something to live up to and new thinking in capacity and facilities will be the next step in our planning."

The cruise industry belongs to the fastest growing aspect of the tourist industry. For the forth year running Copenhagen has beaten its own record with 282 cruise ships, in total 380,000 passengers, an increase of nearly 60,000 more than the previous year.

Regarding the prizes importance for Copenhagen, Ole Andersen, Sales and Marketing Director for Wonderful Copenhagen says "The prizes show that within the cruise sector we have the power to attract. The capital offers both the historical and the modern, which is often what the cruise guests desire. For us it is an important factor that the prizes are given by some of the toughest and most competent of critics, the tour operators and agencies from all over the world. It is they who sell Copenhagen to the tourists and so it is important that they are 100% behind the destination."

The cruise season typically runs from April to September and gives Copenhagen an additional turnover of approximately 100 million Euro's. The season has this year been extended with ship number 282 arriving as the first Christmas cruise ship to Copenhagen on the 10-11^th December. Everything points towards that 2006 will be another record-breaking year with more than 400,000 passengers.

The other nominees in the category Europe's Leading Cruise Destination were Stockholm, Barcelona and Genoa, and in the category The World's Leading Cruise Port we were up against Miami, New York, Southampton and Barcelona.

For more information:

Wonderful Copenhagen, tel.: + 45 3325 7400 or Cruise Copenhagen Network (CCN), Cruise Marketing Director Anette Jensen, tel.: +45 3355 7428.



Press releases Cruise Season 2008: New companies and larger ships Photos Contact Cruise Copenhagen > Cruise Media > Press releases > World Travel Awards World Travel Awards Press Release November 2005 Travel Industry Gives Double Oscar to Copenhagen On Sunday Copenhagen won two World Travel Award prizes as The World's Leading Cruise Port and as Europe's Leading Cruise Destination. Thousands of travel agencies from all over the world voted to decide who should win the prestigious prizes. The World Travel Awards started in 1993 and are recognised as the travel industry's Oscars. The award ceremony took place on November 13^th at the World Travel Market in London and it was the first time Copenhagen won in the "world category". Last year Copenhagen won the prize as Europe's Leading Cruise Destination. The prizes are of great importance to Copenhagen because they give the city and the harbour the international travel industry's blue ribbon. It is because of the city's and the port's efficiency that they were awarded the two prizes: planning everything from arrival to departure in liaison with the cruise lines and agents. Copenhagen has through the past five to ten years developed its cruise product, its infrastructure and has focused its international marketing campaigns on the city as a cruise destination. This has been achieved through close cooperation with Wonderful Copenhagen and the commercial companies in the Cruise Copenhagen Network who together have worked to develop the city as a cruise destination. As Per Schmidt, General Manager of Copenhagen Malmö Port and chairman of Cruise Copenhagen Network says, "The cooperation we have in Cruise Copenhagen Network is the reason we are able to win prizes. It is the joint effort from the port, the airport, SAS, hotels, transport companies, incoming industry, retail businesses, attractions and the tourist organisations Visitdenmark and Wonderful Copenhagen which makes Copenhagen an attractive cruise ship destination. On top of that the harbour has delivered a unique and efficient product. The prize as the world's leading cruise port gives us something to live up to and new thinking in capacity and facilities will be the next step in our planning." The cruise industry belongs to the fastest growing aspect of the tourist industry. For the forth year running Copenhagen has beaten its own record with 282 cruise ships, in total 380,000 passengers, an increase of nearly 60,000 more than the previous year. Regarding the prizes importance for Copenhagen, Ole Andersen, Sales and Marketing Director for Wonderful Copenhagen says "The prizes show that within the cruise sector we have the power to attract. The capital offers both the historical and the modern, which is often what the cruise guests desire. For us it is an important factor that the prizes are given by some of the toughest and most competent of critics, the tour operators and agencies from all over the world. It is they who sell Copenhagen to the tourists and so it is important that they are 100% behind the destination." The cruise season typically runs from April to September and gives Copenhagen an additional turnover of approximately 100 million Euro's. The season has this year been extended with ship number 282 arriving as the first Christmas cruise ship to Copenhagen on the 10-11^th December. Everything points towards that 2006 will be another record-breaking year with more than 400,000 passengers. The other nominees in the category Europe's Leading Cruise Destination were Stockholm, Barcelona and Genoa, and in the category The World's Leading Cruise Port we were up against Miami, New York, Southampton and Barcelona. For more information: Wonderful Copenhagen, tel.: + 45 3325 7400 or Cruise Copenhagen Network (CCN), Cruise Marketing Director Anette Jensen, tel.: +45 3355 7428.