Francine Closener, Secretary of State at Luxembourg's Ministry of the Economy was in Washington last week to promote tourism in Luxembourg; during her visit she spoke at an exclusive Travel Workshop at the Luxembourg Embassy, attended by Washington dignitaries, about the Grand Duchy.
Secretary of State Closener spoke about the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as the only Grand Duchy in the world and which is a founding member of the European Union. She mentioned that the country has beautiful landscapes, is a picturesque city with its UNESCO world heritage classified sites, rolling forested hills, medieval castles, and a location with world-class facilities for meetings and conferences.
His Excellency Jean-Louis Wolzfeld, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and his staff extended a warm welcome to the invited guests and friends of Luxembourg. Anne Hoffman, Managing Director at the Luxembourg National Tourist Office (ONT) provided an interesting virtual tour of Luxembourg. She highlighted the different regions of Luxembourg showing how the Grand Duchy offered something for every kind of interest, ranging from sports, historical sites, gastronomy, business meeting locations, etc. There seems to be something for every age group interested in travel.
Among the audience were travel agents, travel writers, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official, US Ambassador to Luxembourg Robert Mandell and his wife, many professional from the Washington area and Luxembourg expatriates.
One of the interesting guests was Jessica van Dop DeJesus, a Washington-based travel and food writer. Notes about her passion for adventure and travel are found on neatly designed blog www.diningtraveler.com. According to her blog, “She began traveling as a young Marine 17 years ago and has been to 39 countries on and off duty. She spent most of her post-collegiate years overseas, starting with a tour in Okinawa.“ Dop DeJesus said that her mission is to inspire others to travel, so being at the Luxembourg Embassy Travel Workshop was the right place to be for Dop DeJesus who currently serves as a reserve marine officer.
Like Dop DeJesus, Jennifer Holm’s was another inspiring story. She founded BoBella – a branding and marketing firm in 2014 after completing a Global Executive MBA programme through both Columbia University and London Business School. Both in person and from her website one learns that Jennifer "has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion to build a company, from the ground up, with nothing more than a dream. Jennifer has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion to build a company, from the ground up, with nothing more than a dream."
Like the many other events organised at the Luxembourg Embassy, Ambassador Wolzfeld and his staff pull out all the stops to ensure that the guests feel at home and that there are ample supplies of delicious food and beverages that makes one want to jump on the next plane to Luxembourg.
To make it even more appealing to the interested travelers, the Luxembourg National Tourist Office presented inforation on travel times and connections from the major cities in Europe. Guests were provided with attractive brochures filled with useful information. The handout “Experience Luxembourg 2015 – Portrait of the Capital City” contained beautiful pictures with event highlights and good descriptions of museums, theatres as well as musical attractions such as concerts from the “Foyer Europeen.” Much of this information is available via www.visitluxembourg.com. For business and event planners, “Meet in Luxembourg,” contains some fifty imaginative ideas. For example, “hire a castle” describes a “sparkling gem” otherwise known as Château Urspelt, a 300 year old castle. A map, rich with information and tips about places such as the Ardennes and their nature parks, was perhaps a gold mine that can fit in one’s pocket.
Photos by Jason Dixson
