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Bergen's marketing veteran Hovland retiring after 'fantastic journey'

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Helen Hovland, pictured at Seatrade Cruise Global, has been promoting Port of Bergen to the cruise lines for almost three decades
Helen Hovland, cruise marketing manager at Norway's Port of Bergen is retiring on June 30, after almost 30 years in the industry.

'There is only one sentence to sum up my job: it has been a fantastic journey,' Hovland told Seatrade Cruise News.

Port of Bergen is by far Norway's leading cruise port expecting over half a million passengers this year.

'Bergen really started the cruise adventure in Norway, which is now well-established throughout the country,' Hovland remarked.

The city is surrounded by the Norwegian Fjords, which are included on UNESCO’s World Heritage list and that gateway has always been a mainstay of Hovland's marketing message to the cruise community.

Hovland was been involved since the very beginning in the establishment of both Cruise Europe and Cruise Norway and 'seeing the two marketing organizations become a huge success, and cruise calls to Norway grow, has been a great pleasure,' she remarked.

Hovland has also travelled extensively representing Bergen at trade fairs, conferences and meetings.

A regular attendee at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami (and recently at Fort Lauderdale) Hovland has been a familiar face on the Cruise Europe 'Street' and on the Cruise Norway pavilion, providing information on a city with a proud history and many interesting cultural monuments which boasts a mixture of old and new architecture.

'I really have enjoyed and loved meeting and speaking with cruise line itinerary planners and shorex executives and all the members of the cruise family,' she said.

'I have seen cruise port/city tourism develop from a focus on targetting more cruise ships and passengers to today's focus on sustainability, environmental issues and quality for both cruise passengers and the local inhabitants.'

But after nearly three decades of flting the flag for her local port, 'I am now ready to step aside and just watch the cruise ships arriving in Bergen from my balcony,' Hovland concluded.

From September 1, Sandra Diane Bratland, currently director of Cruise Norway, will take on the role of cruise marketing manager at Port of Bergen.