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60 seconds with… NW Production’s Nina Widtskiöld

Nina Widtskiöld, owner and project leader at NW Production Exclusive Travel Creators, started the business back in 2003 to provide outgoing meeting and event services for Swedish clients. It also acts as a boutique DMC for international clients visiting Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Nina is attending inVOYAGE 2019 in Monaco this October.

Brand promise…
Flexibility and attention to detail is our strength. We promise to be partners to our clients and look for new and attractive hotels and destinations that fit the budget and objectives for their events. We think outside of the box and go the extra mile to build trust, both with clients and suppliers.

What’s trending in 2019?
Compliance rules are something that have needed to be taken into consideration in Scandinavian countries for some years, but we are also now seeing this for our foreign clients too. Bidding is on the rise with clients in some countries to try to find the best value for money which sometimes makes negotiations difficult to handle.

Incentive groups are smaller, with a focus on finding that special hotel or the restaurant with a story and not just excellent food. New destinations are still an important factor for clients and direct flights are also becoming more important.

What does luxury mean to you?
What is important are the people we meet and the partners we have all over the world who make the “icing on the cake”. This is luxury!

Townhouse or treehouse?
I am more of a townhouse girl as I like comfort. However, if you go to the Tree Houses in Northern Sweden, they have all you need for your comfort. So, I enjoy both!

The bucket list
I still want to experience a really good safari in Africa – Botswana is a place I would love to visit. Besides that, I have many places I still want to visit both long distance and not far from my home in Sweden.

Last meal
At the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. Eating a five-course menu where the food is excellent and also served on plates made of ice is a wonderful experience. Otherwise Patrick Devos restaurant in Bruges – I could travel to Bruges just to go and have dinner there again!

Aperol or agua?
You can never go wrong with a glass of Champagne!

Old fave
The Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, Intercontinental Carlton in Cannes and Duke’s Palace in Bruges are all places amongst others where the service is high-end with a personal touch.

Proud moment
I have proud moments on a daily basis with our team at NW Production. We work our hardest to meet client expectations and we are happy to say our clients are happy clients.

One particular moment I will always remember was at an event with 155 guests, and while the guests were having a cocktail, a burner on the buffet table started a fire. This resulted in staff trying to put out the fire and a mess of water. Fortunately, the sprinklers did not start and I kept our client calm, there was no danger or damage, and the event could take place without the group noticing anything.

Bragging rights
Sending off 180 clients between Cannes and Monaco within just under 2 hours by helicopter. We had 32 takes-offs from Cannes Heliport

It’s all in the detail…
Attention to detail is essential to the success of an event and we have extremely detailed running sheets and briefings for both our staff and our suppliers.

What inspires you?
Workshops, fairs, social media, other people in the business, friends. There are so many ways to be inspired so you need to have your eyes and ears open!

Final word
After more than 30 years in the business, I still find what we do is exciting and challenging. We are spoiled since we get to see and do many things that other people dream of, and for this I am grateful. People in our business are almost always curious and friendly, which makes my life richer when I meet them around the world.