Sons of Norway, in conjunction with Destination Bloomington, the Airport Foundation MSP and the Royal Norwegian Honorary Consulate, were recognized with a Shop America Salutes Innovation (SASI) Award at the 15th annual ONE Travel Conference for Shopping, Dining and Cultural Tourism. The award ceremony, which was held on January 17, 2012 recognized marketing excellence in promoting shopping, dining and cultural tourism.
The Gold SASI award was presented in the Heritage and Culture category for the “Cold Recall: Reflections of a Polar Explorer and Their Majesties of Norway Departure Event”.
The Cold Recall exhibit was a month-long photo display on concourse C of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport that commemorated the 100th anniversary of Roald Amundsen’s journey to become the first explorer to reach the South Pole. As part of the airport’s Arts and Culture Program administered by the Airport Foundation MSP, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the travel experience, this exhibit gave viewers an inside look into the daily lives and hardships of polar explorers.
The exhibit and event were created and secured through a partnership between Sons of Norway, the Honorary Royal Norwegian Consulate, the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Airport Foundation MSP. The exhibit was brought to MSP Airport to coincide with Their Majesties King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway visit to Minnesota October 14-18, 2011. Minnesota has one of the largest Norwegian heritage populations outside of Oslo, Norway. Norway is one of the top 5 incoming tourist markets for Minnesota.