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Travel Tips
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Traveling to Norway
Editor’s note: Global business, and subsequently, global business travel, continues to expand rapidly. In response, CWT Traveler will provide to readers each month insights and tips on traveling from North America to other countries around the world. This month’s installment focuses on Norway.
Good to know:
- Norway is an extremely safe country; the primary hazard is winter weather.
- The official language in Norway is Norwegian; however most Norwegians have studied English and it is widely spoken in business meetings and the major cities.
- Norway declined to join the European Union in 1994.
- Norwegians tend to be more informal than the other Scandinavian countries, and tend to be the least punctual people in northern Europe.
- The handshake is the standard greeting for men and women.
- Norway’s oil and gas reserves help provide a high level of wealth for its small population, which uses it to develop and sustain a politically and economically equal society with a high quality of life. Norway has been rated as the best place to live in the world by the United Nations several times—life expectancy is 79 years.
- Norway is a multiparty constitutional monarchy.
- Coffee and milk are mainstays of the diet; but never mixed.
- The North American “okay” gesture is considered insulting.
In business:
- As a foreigner, it is advised to be punctual for both business and social events, even though Norwegians themselves are not so insistent upon it.
- The workweek is Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Norwegians arrive and leave promptly, going home for dinner, which is usually at 5 p.m.
- Like most of Europe, the date is written with the day first, then the month, then the year.
- Avoid business trips during the Easter season and in July and August when most take vacations.
- Norwegians may have a “take it or leave it” attitude, and are not known for compromising.
- Norwegians are wary of American concerns about legal matters—written confirmation of business deals will suffice. Use discretion about using lawyers.
- Avoid personal topics—health, employment, and criticism of other peoples and political systems, as tolerance is highly valued.
- Do not complain about prices in Norway; they are well aware of the high cost of living.
- Giving gifts is not part of doing business.
- Norwegians tend to dress less formally for business than North Americans, however, dress for business as usual. Men should wear ties for meetings but a sports jacket is usually acceptable. Women may wear suits, dresses, or pants.
Sources: travel.state.gov, “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: The Best-selling Guide to Doing Business in More Than 60 Countries,” by Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway. Published by Adams Media of Avon, Massachusetts.
Traveler actions can help optimize hotel spend
Recent research by the CWT Travel Management Institute revealed a variety of ways in which companies can optimize their hotel spend and increase savings. While many of the key findings offered steps that travel managers can take to develop and implement an effective hotel program, many of these steps rely on traveler actions and policy compliance to maximize their effectiveness.
Travelers should keep the following items in mind when planning and booking hotel stays:
- Know the corporate policies regarding hotels. What categories of hotels are approved, what properties are preferred, what if a preferred property is not available?
- Know the appropriate hotel booking process. How far in advance should the hotel be booked, what booking channel should be used?
- Know the preferred method of payment for hotel stays. Should the corporate credit card be used, should the hotel be direct billed, how should expenses be captured for expense reporting purposes?
Most of these questions should be addressed within the corporate travel policy. By following corporate travel policies and guidelines, travelers can play a significant role in the success of their company’s hotel program.
Source: CWT Travel Management Institute
One more thing to bug travelers
Along with checked-bag fees, gel and liquid limits, new passport requirements, and other recently imposed security precautions, travelers have one more thing to consider: bedbugs. No longer a problem to be considered only when traveling to some far-flung destination or a seedy hotel, bedbugs are showing up everywhere from college dorms to swanky hotels around the world.
The pests were nearly eradicated in the United States in the 1950s; however, today they are flourishing—some say due to increased international travel and the ban on many insecticides. While bedbugs can have a significant impact on people emotionally and financially as it can take up to four months before an infestation is detected, the “good” news is that they do not transmit disease as many people think. In addition, the hospitality industry is working to train staff and increase inspections, including the use of specially trained sniffer dogs.
Travelers can take steps to avoid picking up the unwelcome hitchhikers by doing the following.
Before travel (at home)
- Protect your bed with specially designed encasements. Example at www.bedshield.com
- Carry large plastic bags in vehicle to place bags in after trip.
During travel
- Check bed out. Look at mattress seams, under box springs, behind headboard—flat, brown, wingless and about a quarter-inch long, bedbugs look similar to wood ticks.
- Fecal deposits appear as a scattering of pepper; if signs are detected, contact management.
- Do NOT place luggage on floor or bed; use luggage rack or bathtub/shower.
- Place worn clothing in a sealed bag away from other clothing.
- Place luggage into plastic bags before placing in your vehicle.
Upon return
- Keep luggage out of dwelling or in plastic bags while unpacking.
- High heat kills bedbugs and eggs—wash and dry items on highest setting allowed for fabric.
- Items to be dry cleaned need to be kept sealed; let the dry cleaner know they may have been exposed to bedbugs.
- Most suitcases can be hand-washed with hot, soapy water. Use a brush along seams.
Recent legislation (H.R. 2248: “Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite) would dedicate USD $50 million from the Department of Commerce for training health inspectors and increase inspections in hotels and motels, as well as in multiple family dwellings.
Richard Cooper, the president (and entomologist) of Bedbug Central, a Web site to educate and provide protective products, says that bedbugs are a worldwide problem, and “knowledge and public awareness are the best weapons we have against them.”
Sources: Minneapolis Star Tribune, www.bedbugcentral.com
