Contact details
Danish Tourist Board
55 Sloane Street, London, SW1X 9SY
Tel: 020-7259 5958
Fax: 020-7259 5955
Web site: www.visitdenmark.com
Scores out of 10
Tour operator’s views 6
Wholesalers are aware of the DTB’s limited budget and the general opinion is that the tourist board is well organised, managing to do quite a lot with very little. According to some sources, the Danish government pays scant attention to tourism, and the tourism infrastructure of the destination is underdeveloped outside Copenhagen. Operators maintain it is difficult to sell Denmark as a standalone destination and most UK visitors buy a package of at least two Scandinavian countries.
Retailer agents’ views 6
Agents do not get many enquiries for Denmark so few have any knowledge of the destination or its tourist board. The Viking Challenge is a co-operative Scandinavian scheme for training agency staff which is well regarded by the limited number who have taken part in it. Full marks to the DTB for trying to recruit my undercover agents to the scheme when they made telephone enquiries! They were impressed by the friendly, efficient response. Nothing was too much trouble.
Consumers’ views 7
It is very simple to telephone the DTB but calls are charged at 50p a minute. Undercover requests for brochures were all fulfiled within five days and the material covered every aspect of holiday planning requested – and then some. An effective selling pack. The DTB has a Web site for consumers, but it takes a bit of searching and tends to be rather sterile and slow to download.
Kent’s conclusions 7
Considering how few Brits go to Denmark and the DTB’s miserly advertising budget, the tourist board achieves some surprisingly good media coverage. It is also quite creative in the way it promotes niche market opportunities. Everyone who works with the tourist office staff attests to their friendly, proficient service. They are obliged to work closely with Scandinavian counterparts in order to maximise their trade and consumer promotions budgets. I can’t help feeling they could achieve so much more if only the Danish government would place more emphasis on tourism.