Lögberg-Heimskringla - 08.03.1985, Qupperneq 1

Sedlabanki Islands
Adalskrifstcfa
Austurstraoti
hU . • >, iceiand
Reykjavik icei
pd 1984
JAN 66
Lögberg
Heimskringla
LÖGBERG Stofnað 14. janúar 1888
HEIMSKRINGLA Stofnað 9. september 1886
99. ARGANGUR
WINNIPEG, FOSTUDAGUR 8. MARZ 1985
NUMER 9
Icelandair:
Advance Bookings Running High
Sigfús Erlingsson, Icelandair's
Senior Vice-President Marketing, is
optimistic about prospects for 1985
as long as no drastic setbacks occur.
A crucial factor is the inflation which
has plagued the country's economy
for years on end, and was brought
down to an all-time low last year. If
it can be reduced once more after the
sharp jurnp anticipated early in the
new year, greater numbers of tourists
can be expected to visit Iceland dur-
ing 1985.
With the introduction of its 1985
summer schedules, Icelandair will
add two new gateways to its list —
Bergen in Norway and Salzburg in
Austria. Flights to Orlando, Florida
began in October 1984, the airline's
fifth US gateway.
Bookings are looking good,
reported Erlingsson, and are higher
than at the same time the. year
before. In fact one of the greatest dif-
ficulties facing visitors next summer
is likely to bé the fact that so many
other people have also had the same
idea — advance bookings at some
hotels are already running high for
certain parts of the season.
Icelandair will shortlý assess plans
for expanding Hotel Esja, one of the
Princess Diana and Prince Charles
Princess Diana Supports
Icelandic Concert Hall
Diana, Princess of Wales recently
made an unscheduled appearance
with her husband Charles, Prince of
Wales, at a concert by Britain Royal
Philharmonic orchestra to raise
money for a concert hall in Reyk-
javík. Lögberg-Heimskringla was
unaware of any fundraising cam-
paign outside Iceland for this purpose
but welcomes the support of such
dignitaries.
airline's two Reykjavík hotels, with
a view to making it the largest in the
country, offering 405 rooms.
"Systematic promotion and sales
drives on both sides of the Atlantic,
backed by the Iceland Tourist Board
and various companies within the
travel and export sectors, are clearly
showing returns," Erlingsson ex-
plained. "Bookings are good on most
established routes, while numerous
enquiries have been received about
our Salzburg services, for which
flight permission is still pending. We
hopé that this route, linked to our
Frankfurt services, will prove to be
a busy and flourishing operation,
even though it will only be operating
on a weekly basis.”
Regarding prospects in various
countries, Erlingsson pointed to a
four- to fivefold rise from last year's
figures in bookings in the USA.
"Naturally this is-by no means con-
clusive evidence,” he commented,
"but it does give us a valuable indica-
tion. Americans, with their strong
currency, are showing a great deal of
interest in making relatively inexpen-
sive vfsits to Europe, and a certain pro-
portion of them will stay in Iceland
for varying lengths of time. Besides
our traditional one-, two- and three-
day stopover packages, we have also
noted a rise in sales of four- to six-day
stopover tours.
Sigfús Erlingsson
"I can't foresee an increase on such
a scale among visitors from European
'countries, since Iceland is put in a
higher price bracket by having its
currency closely tied to the dollar,
but I nonetheless predict a fair-sized
rise, assuming that inflation is kept
in check. To sum up, I'm optimistic
that if this happens 1985 will be a
fine year for Icelandair and the
Icelandic tourist industry as a
whole."
Reykjavík:
Teachers Resign En Masse
Two teachers' associations are
resorting to drastic action in order to
force the Minister of Education to
consider their demands for better pay
and conditions. Officials of the Union
of Icelandic Teachers (Hid íslenzka
kennarafélag) have handed to the
Ministry the resignations of five hun-
dred members, most of whorn teach
at the secondary level. The resigna-
tions will take -effect on March 1,
1985 if the situation does not
improve.
The purchasing power of teachers'
pay has dwindled alarmingly, like
that of other public employees, under
the government's tough economic
policy. According to the Ministry of
Education, the status of teachers is to
be considered, and a solution is
hoped for before the resignations
take effect. The Icelandic Teachers'
Organization (Kennarasamband
Islands), whose members teach
mainly in primary schools, are plan-
ning similar action, but are waiting
for developments before deploying
the weapon of mass resignation.
About half of the ITO's membership
is willing to resign.