A very successful 70^th Skål World Congress was held in Budapest, Hungary from 1-6 November 2009. The almost 1,000 participants were loud in their praise for the organisers of the Congress, Chairman, George Paldi, President of Skål International Hungary and PCO Peter Javorkai of STH Special Tours, Budapest. Ably assisted by their staff and a number of tourism students they managed to organise a congress which was different, varied and above all very enjoyable. The historic city of Budapest pulled out all the stops including decorating the Elizabeth Bridge over the Danube with the flags of all 62 nations attending the congress. The Ministry of Tourism and the City of Budapest were generous with their sponsorship of the congress thus adding, in no small way, to its success.

The Congress began with the customary Ecumenical Service in the famous St. Stephen’s Basilica which was attended by over 500 of the participants. The service included Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Bahai faiths.

On Monday 2 November 2009 the Opening Ceremony was held at the magnificent Palace of Arts and was attended by the Minister for Local Government in charge of Tourism and the Deputy Chief Mayor of Budapest. The ceremony included the roll call of nations and the parade of flags as well as speeches of welcome from the dignitaries present. At the end of her speech in which her message was one of confidence and a positive approach, the President, Hulya Aslantas was joined on stage by a group of professional musicians for a rendition of the song “We can Fly”.		The winners of the Skål Club of the year competition were announced and the winner of the competition for 2009 is Skål International Albany, Australia. Second was Skål International New York and in third place Skål International Stockholm. The 8th Ecotourism Awards were presented during the opening ceremony and 19 Club twinning agreements were signed. The Opening Ceremony ended with a cultural programme which had jazz, operetta and a traditional folklore show which included some beautiful Hungarian music. The luncheon following the Opening Ceremony was held at the Hilton Hotel in Buda.   The day ended with a cruise on the Danube followed by a sumptuous buffet on board the Europa.

The General Assembly of Clubs was held on Tuesday 3 November 2009 in the Ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel. It was a long day and included presentations by Malev Airlines, the official carrier for the congress and Johnson Diversey, the official sponsor of the Ecotourism Awards. Morning and Afternoon Coffee breaks were sponsored by the Croatian National Incentive Bureau.		The annual Dine Around took place on Tuesday evening 3 November 2009 with 21 restaurants being used on this occasion. The Annual Meeting and Dinner of the Honorary and Past Presidents was also held on this evening. A record 16 Honorary and Past Presidents and their accompanying persons were in attendance in Budapest.

On Wednesday morning all activity moved to the Corinthia Royal Hotel in the city centre for the Business to Business Workshop (B2B). The workshop has grown from five tables in 2005 to 78 tables in Budapest. On Wednesday evening the President’s Gala Dinner, hosted by the Ministry of Tourism of Hungary, was held at the Railway Park Museum which had been suitably decorated for the occasion. The guests were taken to the Museum by Steam Train formally used by the Orient Express. A sumptuous dinner was served with fantastic musical interludes throughout the dinner. The dance floor was packed and people really did not want to leave.

The 8^th Skål International Ecotourism Awards were presented during the Opening Ceremony of the Congress. The awards this year were sponsored by Johnson Diversey. The Award ceremony was attended by representatives of Johnson Diversey.

The new President of Skål International is Nik Racic, Director, Croatian Convention and Incentive Bureau. President Nik has chosen as his Presidential theme “Living in the True Spirit of Skål”. In so doing he is reminding all Skål members worldwide that they have very special privileges as members of this great organisation which is based on friendship and solidarity and they must work together for the benefit of Skål in their daily lives and with one another. He also emphasised that Skål is not only a friendship association and highlighted the many opportunities which members have to do business with each other worldwide.

Ilkay Bener, Skål International Marmara, Turkey and Jefferie Tippen, Skål International Christchurch, New Zealand were both awarded the distinction of Membre d’Honneur of Skål International by the General Assembly.		Skål International Sydney was reconfirmed as the venue for the 71st Skål World Congress with the theme “Linking the World Downunder”. The dates are 7-12 October 2010. For the first time the congress commences on a Thursday. Information on the congress will be posted on the Skål International website shortly.

Skål International Turku, Finland defeated Skål International Dubai as the venue for the 72^nd Skål World Congress 2011.

The new more dynamic 2.0 website was launched during the General Assembly held in Budapest on Tuesday 3 November 2009 by the President of Skål International, Hulya Aslantas. We encourage all members to use this new website www.skal.travel. To sign in to the new website you need to insert your First Name_Surname (e.g. Jim_Power) and your membership number or chosen password remains the same. Entry to the “members only area” (family name and password) remains unchanged until such time as the two sites are merged. There are many new features on this new site including a search facility. Please post your constructive comments on the “Forum”.

The Florimond Volckaert Fund Raffle held during the Congress in Budapest raised a significant amount of money. The Trustees would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who contributed to the success of the raffle. A number of prizes remain unclaimed and these are now at the General Secretariat. The list of winning numbers can be found here. If you are a winner please scan your winning ticket and forward it by e-mail to skal@skal.travel A number of valuable prizes had also been donated and the Trustees have decided to conduct an auction on the website so that the entire membership have a chance to win. More details on this will follow shortly.

Skål International will once again have a stand at EIBTM, Barcelona from 1-3 December 2009. Stand Nº K640. A happy hour will be held on Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2, sponsored by the Croatian Convention and Incentive Bureau. Everyone is welcome. Come and meet the new President of Skål International, Nik Racic.

Skål International had a stand at WTM London which was a cooperation between Skål International, Skål International London and Skål International United Kingdom. The annual WTM Skål luncheon was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Tuesday 10 November 2009 and was presided over by the President of Skål International London, Mats Wivesson. Almost 70 Skål members attended. Over 100 contacts were made during the show by interested members and those interested in the formation of new Clubs.

Romanian Skål members gathered at the Stirbey Palace in Buftea on 17 October 2009 for the 10^th Anniversary celebration of the foundation of the Club.

In his address the President of Skål International Bucharest, Antoni Kuhnen stated “starting with the Skål slogan "Doing business among Friends", in order to be considered, the relations of friendship have to be put into practice. In 10 years of activity, Skål members in Romania have tried to combine both the professional contribution to the development of the entire sector and the assistance given to the community. Worth mentioning is the support of the Skål in Romania to the "For God's Children Foundation” in raising funds for children suffering from leukaemia. The charitable campaign completed on November 9^th, 2007, was organised at the JW Marriott Bucharest, under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Martin EICHTINGER, Ambassador of Austria in Romania. On that occasion a painting exhibition of children touched by leukaemia was launched and also a book “Hope illustrated”, which displays on its pages the most beautiful and suggestive photos and poems composed by the children suffering from leukaemia admitted to Fundeni Clinical Hospital. Skål International Bucharest has always paid special attention to these children, including organizing a Christmas Party at Fundeni Hospital to bring good will and hope to the children's hearts”.

• If 1 million people replaced a 7km car trip once a week with a bike ride, we could reduce CO2 emissions by about 100,000 tonnes/yr.
• Encourage your city to install LED traffic lights, which consume 80% less energy than traditional lights, can save a large city millions of $ a year.

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