News from Norway.com, October 2000

1. New Home Page for Norway.com
2. Business Travel
3. Bunads
4. Norway's National Gallery

1. New Home Page for Norway.com

We have redesigned our home page at http://www.norway.com. The challenges our web designer faced were many. We wanted our home page to present visitors with an uncluttered overview of all the destinations we cover and all the features we have. We also wanted to find a way to direct business and leisure travellers to sites relevant to their needs. Our Norwegian destinations can easily be seen on the map in the upper left hand corner. Click on a destination on the map, and you will be linked to the information we have about that destination. For the major destinations like Oslo http://www.virtualoslo.com and Bergen http://www.virtualbergen.com you will be linked to a Virtual City with a full spectrum of information and services. For information about a destination not on the map, go to: http://www.scandinavialinks.com/

Most of our content is located to the right of the Norway map, in the blue and green arcs. Within the blue arc you find all the features that are of interest for business travellers, within the green arc for leisure travellers.

Below the map of Norway is the "A taste of Norway" section. It presents some of the slide shows, videos, and panorama pictures we have for cities and regions in Norway.

At the bottom of the page, you find the Norway Top Events search function that enables you to find the events that interest you for when and where you travel. Also at the bottom is the services box with a host of features and ways of contacting us.

While we are quite pleased with our new home page, we are always looking for ways to improve it. We would like your input - send any comments you may have to newsletter@norway.com .

2. Business Travel

Business travellers have different needs than leisure travellers. Time is of the essence, and specialized services often need to be found quickly. To meet these needs we have introduced a host of new features. Below are descriptions of some of these features.

The My Business Guides, like our My Tourists Guides, are customizable and are the most comprehensive English language guides available online. The My Business Guides will have some categories of information in common with its tourist counterpart plus categories like Business Services, Travel Directions to Selected Company, and information about the cultural dos and don'ts when doing business in Norway. First out is the Oslo Business MyGuide at: http://www.my-guide-oslo.com/business

The Business Directories are a valuable tool for business travellers, both in planning their trip and in finding services while they are in Norway. To view the Oslo business directories, go to: http://www.virtualoslo.com/directories . Here you will find directories for Business Services, Hotels, Restaurants, Shops, and my favorite, a Company Location Finder.

The Business Services Directory allows you to search from among 400 business services by both category and location. For each company we provide contact information, a company profile and info on how to get there. We are not aware of any other online directory for Oslo business services in English that comes close to having all of the information we do. To take a look, go to: http://www.norway.com/guide/businesscenter/b_services_enter.asp? destinationid=1 tradeid=31

The Company Location Finder is a nifty tool. Select a company at http://www.virtualoslo.com/directories and you get information about that company, travel directions and a link to the company's home page. We even have maps for some of the companies, showing where they are in Oslo (we should have maps online for all the companies in Oslo shortly). Two examples to check out are, McKinsey & Co the management consulting firm at: http://www.norway.com/guide/businesscenter/company_finder.asp?id=1105 and Carnegie, a brokerage firm, at: http://www.norway.com/guide/businesscenter/company_finder.asp?id=1011

Finally, we have a very useful links page for doing business in Norway at: http://www.norway.com/doingbusiness/ . Here you will find links for importing and exporting, setting up a business in Norway, and links to offices of the Norwegian Government.

3.Bunads

Bunads are colorful folk costumes worn by Norwegians on festive occasions, such as weddings and the 17th of May. Bunads often tell the geographical area that the wearer identifies with plus marital status. Husfliden, an association of 35 handicraft stores in Norway, has an excellent site about Bunads at: http://www.husfliden.no/english (If you say "morn" five times, the woman on the home page will open her eyes - if you say "god natt" five times, she will close them).

At Husfliden's site you will find essays about Bunads and accessories like costume silver, silk scarves and embroidery. They also have a Bunad in Norway page at: http://www.husfliden.no/english  that lets you search among 80 photos of Bunads by counties in Norway.

If you want to see photos and a location map for Husfliden's Oslo store, click Husfliden on the right hand side of the page at: http://www.norway.com/guide/directories/bus_trade.asp? tradeID=3 destinationID=1

4. Norway's National Gallery

The National Gallery (Nasjonalgalleriet) in Oslo hosts many visitors a year due to its central location and its fine collection of Norwegian and international artists (also, it helps that there is no admission to the permanent exhibits). Many visitors come just to see the paintings by Edvard Munch, especially "The Scream". This priceless painting was stolen in 1994. The thieves stole the painting in broad daylight and did so in less than two minutes. Luckily the museum got the painting back when the thieves tried to sell it a few months later. You can see "The Scream" and other paintings by Munch at: http://www.museumsnett.no/nasjonalgalleriet/munch/eng/

The museum also is known for its fine collection of paintings from the National Romantic period. To see a slide show of some of these paintings, plus some from the Realism period, go to: http://www.museumsnett.no/nasjonalgalleriet