CoachMarque, the U.K.’s GPN member, has been written up in the April 2010 edition of the U.K.’s motor coach industry magazine, Coach Monthly.  The article explores the origin and the philosophy of CoachMarque, as well as its relationship with GPN.  It explains that CoachMarque is “the only universally recognized kite mark of quality in the U.K. coach industry”.  This is a powerful statement; one that is backed up by the fact that CoachMarque’s quality standards cover not only the coach itself, but a whole range of aspects of its member companies, from customer service to staff training.  CoachMarque companies are evaluated by an independent auditor to ensure that they meet the stringent standards of entry into CoachMarque.  The article goes on to explain the realtionship of CoachMarque to GPN: The GPN network provides CoachMarque and other members with assured quality abroad, breakdown assistance in and GPN country, legal support, sales and marketing benefits,  and much more.  Congratulations to CoachMarque for the great publicity!

Pristine Pre- Eruption Icelandic Landscape

The picturesque volcanic eruption in Fimmvorduhals is over. We Icelanders have only good memories from that one, thousands of Icelanders and foreign visitors flocked sightseeing on busses, SUV´s, small aircraft and helicopters. Everybody was fascinated with the beauty and splendor Nature showed, the red-hot lava gushed out and ran in streams and falls around the area, melting the ice and snow around, making it all a wonderful show of extraordinary colors of black, red and white. As soon as this spectacle was over, another eruption began, this time underneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier. The crater spewed ash and pumice into the cold air, the highest jets flying into the height of 30 thousand feet or almost 9 kilometers. The ash from this eruption has had significant effect on flights all over Europe, with cancellations of flights and closing down of airports. Hopefully this eruption is coming to an end and everyone can look forward to flying and travelling again. Tourism will hopefully emerge from the ashes like a Phoenix and bloom once more. In Iceland we are absolutely dependant on tourists flying to our country – even though we have some insignificant passenger ships. You can´t however hop on a train or take a bus to Iceland.