Hardanger cruise was founded by 2 travel trade seniors, Gunnar Lepsøe and Hans Parnefält.
Gunnar had 40 years in the tourism industry, almost all of them in the Cruise segment, first as an employee and later he established Cruisespecialisten in 1989 which he operated for 20 years. A Cruise Travel agency and incoming agent in Norway, assisting DMCs, route planning of cruises domestic and overseas, consultancy and operating of shore excursions, sales of cruises world-wide.He had an extensive international network, both through Cruisespesialisten, but also connected with Cruise Europe, where he held the position of Chairman for 14 years.
Gunnar past away unexpectedly on the 10th of October 2020 and will always be an important part of the company history. We will proceed in his spirit.
Hans started his career in the Fritidsresor group and was for many years Production Manager for Eastern Mediterranean and was based in Cyprus.
Amongst other products was the mini- and weekly cruises from Cyprus to neighbouring Egypt, Israel and Greece and Nile Cruises fed by charter flights from Scandinavia. He started charter tour operator Vitaltour AS in 2002 which he sold in 2012. Vitaltour success concept was groups of 180 persons from selected areas of Scandinavia to handpicked hotels in Cyprus and Spain.