 |
|
| Tallinn City Tourist Office & Convention Bureau | MARCH 2006 |
 |
|
| Vabaduse väljak 7, 15199 Tallinn, Estonia • www.tourism.tallinn.ee | |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
12 Silver Spoons go to Estonia’s finest dining establishments More than 300 cruise ships to visit Tallinn Ships to swap terminals FlyNordic doubles its Stockholm–Tallinn flights Norwegian Air Shuttle to launch Oslo–Tallinn flights Direct to Barcelona on Estonian Air! Estonian Air resumes Tallinn–Paris flights World Art Treasures series to begin in May Inforadio - yet another world’s first for Estonia Tallinn Card goes electronic Tallinn Card launches its new season with nearly 100 partners |
|
12 Silver Spoons go to Estonia’s finest dining establishmentsOn January 20, a gala awards ceremony was held in Tallinn to announce the winners of the Silver Spoon 2005 gastronomy competition, an award that honours excellence in Estonia’s dining scene. There were few surprises in the list of winners at the ceremony, now in its second year running – all had previously been recognised for their high standards, and three of them retained the same title they were awarded last year. The Silver Spoon for Best Restaurant went to Pegasus, Spirit was named Best Café and Baieri Kelder, which operates in Scandic Hotel St. Barbara, walked away with the Silver Spoon for Best Pub. As was the case last year, the title of Best Gourmet Restaurant was awarded to Stenhus, the Schlössle Hotel’s restaurant, the award for the best restaurant from the point of view of family- and child-friendliness was given to GO Spa restaurant in Saaremaa, and the title of Best National Cuisine was awarded to Sushihouse. Of the restaurants that opened in 2005, the Meister Michel apple restaurant was awarded the Best New Restaurant. The title of Best Chef went to Roman Zastsersinski of Ö restaurant, the Best Wine Service was awarded to the Musi vinoteek, and best beer service went to Vana Villem Pub. According to the judges, the nation’s best service can be found at the Ammende Villa in Pärnu, and Estonia's most romantic restaurant is the Pädaste Seahouse restaurant on Muhu Island. Those attending this year’s ceremony were treated to a demonstration of the skills of Pegasus chef Michael Bhoola, who won the Silver Spoon for Best Chef in 2004. The next round of the competition, Silver Spoon 2006, is soon to get underway. Further information: More than 300 cruise ships to visit TallinnFor the second year running, the number of cruise ships visiting Tallinn harbour is expected to break the 300 mark, with forecasters predicting that the final figure to be even higher than last year’s. As of February, 310 cruise ships have announced their intention to call at the port of Tallinn this year, and so far 22 ships have indicated their plan to visit Tallinn in 2007. In 2005, 324 cruise ships carrying a total of over 295,000 passengers visited Tallinn. Based on these figures, Tallinn was third most visited destination for cruise ships in the northern European region, after Southampton and Copenhagen. Further information: Ships to swap terminalsStarting in March, all Tallink ships will depart from the Passenger Port’s D Terminal, placing Tallink's operations in a single terminal and prompting other companies to switch terminals as well. By concentrating its operations in the D Terminal, Tallink hopes to make changes there in the near future that will speed up the passport control process for its passengers. The terminal will also see the arrival of Tallink's new ship, Galaxy, which will start service on the Tallinn–Helsinki line this spring. Eckerö Line has also changed terminals – its Norlandia now departs from A Terminal, though passengers with cars will board in front of B Terminal, and arriving passengers will also disembark via B Terminal. Silja Line's SuperSeaCat express service will be departing from A Terminal in the new season. Silja Line hopes to start up this service on April 27. Viking Line and Nordic Jet Line's terminals remain the same, and Linda Line Ekspress, who begin their service on April 27, will depart from the Linnahall quay as before. These changes are part of a larger project to rework the Port of Tallinn. Other planned changes include altering the arrangements for cars driving onto and off ships, which should take place before the end of 2006, and the reconstruction of A and B terminals in the next few years. Further information: FlyNordic doubles its Stockholm–Tallinn flightsFrom March 27, the Swedish budget airline FlyNordic will double the number of times it flies between Stockholm and Tallinn, and will offer cheaper fares on the route. Under the new schedule, the flights will take place four times a week. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays flights will leave Stockholm at 10:50 and Tallinn at 13:20. On Sundays they will leave Stockholm at 11:00 and Tallinn at 13:30. Prices for the service have been reduced as well. The cheapest ticket from Stockholm to Tallinn now costs 675 EEK, and from Tallinn to Stockholm, 550 EEK. These prices include all extras. Further information: Norwegian Air Shuttle to launch Oslo–Tallinn flightsOn May 4, the Norwegian budget airline, Air Shuttle, will begin regular flights between Oslo and Tallinn. The new service puts the company in direct competition with Estonian Air, which already flies the route ten times a week. Air Shuttle, for its part, will fly the route three days per week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the 1.5-hour flight will depart from Oslo at 19:55 and from Tallinn at 22:55. On Sundays the flight will depart from Oslo at 13:20 and from Tallinn at 16:20. Oslo–Tallinn ticket prices range from 36 to 130 EUR, Tallinn–Oslo from 33 to 108 EUR, taxes included. Air Shuttle began its operations as a domestic carrier in 1993 when it was part of the Norwegian airline Braathens. Operating independently since 2002, the company now flies 55 routes and plans further expansion into the Baltic states, Russia and Poland. Further information: Direct to Barcelona on Estonian Air!This May 14, Estonian Air will begin direct flights to that favourite Spanish holiday destination, Barcelona. The new route was made possible thanks to Spain’s growing popularity as a warm-weather getaway for Estonians, as well as increased interest in Estonia among travellers from Spain. Flights between the Estonian and Catalonian capitals will take place four times a week. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, flights will depart from Tallinn at 12:25 and from Barcelona at 16:25. On Sundays they will depart from Tallinn at 7:10 and from Barcelona at 11:10. With a flight time of almost 4 hours, the Tallinn–Barcelona route will be Estonian Air's longest regular flight. Tickets for the route booked via Estonian Air's homepage start from 1,455 EEK, all taxes included. In 2005, Estonian Air flew 642,700 passengers – an 18% increase from the previous year – with Copenhagen, Stockholm, London and Oslo the most popular destinations. Last year it also completed 9,052 flights, 9% more than in 2004. Further information: Estonian Air resumes Tallinn–Paris flightsWith the start of its summer schedule, which came into effect on March 26, Estonian Air has reopened its Tallinn–Paris route as well as increased the number of flights to its most popular destinations. In March and April, flights between Tallinn and Paris will take place on Thursdays and Sundays, with a Tuesday flight to be added from May. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the flights depart from Tallinn at 8:00 and from Paris at 11:10, and on Sundays at 11:00 and 14:00 respectively. Also, adding a new aircraft to its fleet will allow Estonian Air to increase the number of flights on many of its routes. The Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm routes will see the most benefit, but the number of flights to Milan, Manchester and Kiev will also increase. Further information about the summer schedule: World Art Treasures series to begin in MayThis May, the Estonian company Global Trade Ltd and the Tallinn Teachers' House will begin the first in their series of annual fine arts exhibitions entitled “World Art Treasures”. The opening exhibition will introduce 62 masterpieces by great Russian painters such as Aivazovsky, Repin, Shishkin and Petrov-Vodkin, as well as fascinating icons from the 15th and 16th centuries. These works are on loan from the collection of Pskov State Museum of History. The exhibition, which runs from May to September, will be held in the halls of the Tallinn Teachers’ House in Old Town. For detailed information: Inforadio - yet another world’s first for EstoniaMarch 1st, 2006 saw the launch of yet another innovative and creative Internet based service in Estonia – Inforadio24.com. Inforadio aims to communicate the “Very Best Tallinn has to Offer” to the international business community in audio and audio-visual form. Based on the concept of managing consumer expectations and communicating information via streaming audio and audio-visual files in the English language, Inforadio24.com will over the coming months create a broad series of programmes on tourism, arts, culture and events, as well as recommendations of companies to use and services on offer. “The important element of Inforadio is to create a voice to the international community about Tallinn and the rest of Estonia which is accurate, helpful, and most importantly positive,” said the company founder, Jason Barry. “We want our international listeners to be better informed so that when they come to the country, they can maximise their time here both efficiently, in terms of business, but also emotionally by taking advantage of the large amount to do and see here,” he said. James Ramsden, office manager for Estonia, added, “The exciting thing is that we can now create a much more proactive approach to communication, and also learn more by interviewing real business people and real tourists about their experiences, which form the basis of all our recommendations. We as foreigners living here are proud of Estonia, and therefore we want to help maintain, sustain and increase awareness of all that’s great here in country. We are delighted to be working in association with the Tallinn City Tourist Board & Convention Bureau.” Inforadio24.com will also be providing audio and audio-visual files for 28 countries in the next 18 months, with audio files such as “A Five Minute Crash Course on Estonian Language”, “The Audio Tour Guide to the Old Town of Tallinn” and “Top 5 Restaurants and Hotel Review”. The first programmes are already online, with more services being made available during 2006 including access via mobile telephones and IPOD compatibility. For more details log on to www.inforadio24.com or contact the office direct, +372 644 5544. Tallinn Card goes electronicThe Tallinn Card is about to take a leap into the electronic age – this April 1, along with its fresh package of discounts and special offers, the new Tallinn Card season will introduce a new, electronic version of the card itself! This innovation is designed to make the handling of the city card easier for everyone. Replacing the old-fashioned, manual, paper card system in use since the project began in June 1998, the new electronic system will greatly simplify the registration process and prevent fraudulent use of the card. The new cards will have a magnetic stripe that can be quickly read on tour buses, at museums and at any other venue where card readers have been installed. Initially, Tallinn Card partners who have over 300 Tallinn Card holder visits per year will be given the electronic card readers, with others to be brought into the new system over time. With the number Tallinn Card visits increasing every year, the change couldn’t have come any sooner. In 2005, nearly 80,000 visits were made using the Tallinn Card, and in 2006, that number is expected to increase to 100,000. Further information: Tallinn Card launches its new season with nearly 100 partnersThis April 1st, Tallinn Card will kick off its eighth season with a bigger-than-ever package of products, including freebies and discounts from nearly a hundred different partners. Compared with the previous season, this year’s card offers a much wider selection of tours, with bus, bicycle and walking tours available on ten different routes and in ten languages. The new card also gives free entrance to the newly opened KUMU Art Museum. As always, Tallinn Card holders are entitled to free use of public transport and discounts at a wide array of dining venues, shops, and leisure and entertainment venues. A complete overview of the Tallinn Card package can be seen at www.tallinncard.ee. Another improvement for the new season is that the detailed Tallinn Card catalogue will be more multi-lingual than ever. From April, the catalogue will be available in English, German, Finnish and Swedish, and from May it will be also offered in Russian, French and Estonian. Further information: |