15 Jun 2006
Finnish Monsters win the Eurovision Song Contest Finland made history last month - by claiming victory for the first time ever at the Eurovision Song Contest. The weird yet wonderful rock monsters LORDI won the votes (and hearts ?) of most European nations and gained a landslide victory over the rest of the contestants. Next year's competition will be held in Finland (10-12th May 07). A special Eurovision Link is coming soon to our pages.
Also, don't miss Lordi when they take on London, performing at the London Forum on Halloween, 31 October 2006!
www.sauna-open-air.fi www.eurovision.tv Finnish Tourist Board new website now open It is our pleasure to inform you that the new and improved Finnish Tourist Board website has now been opened. The fresh new design will provide both consumers and travel trade with a user-friendly 'one stop shop' for information about travel to and within Finland. From time to time we will also be including product news from UK tour operators.
To view our fresh and improved look yourself, please visit the site at www.visitfinland.com/uk.
World's Best Hotel Bars When in Helsinki, you might want to do as Fortune 100 executives do - that is to stay at the K�mp Hotel. The property made Conde Nast Traveler's Gold List and Travel + Leisure's Top 500 Best Hotels in the World for three consecutive years. And the hotel bar made the forbes.com 2005 elite list of The World's Best Hotel Bars. These accolades of its guests earned the property the Starwood Hotels Resorts Luxury Collection Hotel of the Year award.
Conde Nast Traveller votes Hotel Klaus K among best new hotels in the world The recently opened boutique hotel Klaus K in Helsinki is fast establishing its reputation as a firm favourite amongst design conscious visitors to the city.
Klaus K has 137 rooms, all furnished in cool Scandinavian retro style. The hotel also offers three different restaurants, a nightclub as well as services of the luxurious Helsinki Day Spa. All of this combined with the unique Finnish interior design were sure be reasons that had Klaus K made its way to the Hot List 2006 of New Hotels compiled by Conde Nast Traveller magazine (May 2006 issue). The only Scandinavian entry on the Conde Nast list, Klaus K is sure to offer a refreshing alternative whilst staying in Helsinki.
Helsinki Festival: Bigger than Ever The Helsinki Festival, this year scheduled for August 8 to September 3, is the biggest festival in Finland in terms of audience figures, attracting a combined crowd of 254,000 members to its various events in 2005.
The programme, details of which will be announced later this spring, consists of classical and contemporary music, dance, theatre, popular and world music, cinema, performance and art exhibitions. There is also special programme for children and families (Children's Festival), concerts and workshops. Another very popular feature is the Night of Arts, held for the first time in 1989 and drawing tens of thousands to the streets, museums, cinemas, concert halls, churches and other cultural venues of Helsinki's capital.
The 2006 Festival will see a return of the perennially popular Huvila Festival Tent, a unique and individual venue for performances by top world music artists. www.helsinkifestival.fi
Brand new Wellness centre for Hotel Kalevala Hotel Kalevala in Kuhmo, North-East of Finland, will open a new wellness centre in November 2006. Examples of facilities available: � Traditional Finnish Saunas � Peat sauna � Jacuzzis of different sizes, in which herbal baths � Classical / conventional massage, also Indian head massage and Japanese energy massage � Traditional limb healing / treatment (Kalevala style) � Reiki therapy � Face-, body- and feet treatments e.g. wrapping For more information about the new wellness center, please email Hotel Kalevala or visit their website. info@hotellikalevala.fi, www.hotellikalevala.fi
Helsinki-Vantaa most punctual European airport 2005 According to AEA 2005 delay rates, Helsinki Airport was the most punctual in Europe. For the fifth consecutive year, Helsinki-Vantaa ranked second on the list of departure flights, only slightly behind D�sseldorf.
Helsinki-Vantaa shared the first place in least delayed inbound flights with Amsterdam airport. Last year, an average of 21% of European services were delayed by more than 15 minutes. According to AEA rates, 15.5% of flights leaving Helsinki-Vantaa were delayed.
Accessible Finland We have recently received quite a few queries regarding accessible travel services in Finland. With this in mind we have gathered some links below that will provide you and your readers with further information about accessible accommodation and traveling in Finland.
Finnish Tourist Board cooperates with Rullaten ry, a Finnish organisation, whose main task is to encourage disabled persons to travel and participate in making authorities and service enterprises to pay attention into the special needs and wishes of disabled guests by delivering information. Rullaten Ry also regularly produces an information guide about accommodation and travelling for disabled persons. For more information about the guide and other apects of accessible travel in Finland, please visit the websites:
www.accessibletravelling.fi esteeton.teho.net/english/index Crystal Holidays Offers Summer Lapland Crystal Holidays has added a self-drive tour of Lapland to its latest Lakes and Mountains preview programme. The Highlights of the Finnish Summer seven night tour lets customers drive through Lapland taking in Rovaniemi, Ruka and the Oulanka National Park. Prices for packages start from �699pp inc flights, accommodation and some meals.
For more information contact Crystal Holidays on 0870 888 0252.
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