Mayor of Denver, Colorado Michael Hancock arrived in Reykjavík yesterday and visited Mayor Jón Gnarr at the Höfði reception house. The mayors exchanged presents: an American cowboy hat for an Icelandic lopapeysa woolen sweater.
Höfði. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Hancock and his 16-person entourage are visiting Iceland on the occasion of Icelandair’s first scheduled flight between Keflavík International Airport and Denver today, Morgunblaðið reports.
The group will travel to Akureyri in north Iceland today, accompanied by US Ambassador to Iceland Luis E. Arrega.
Hancock and Mayor of Akureyri Eiríkur Björn Björgvinsson will sign a declaration of intent in the local culture center Hof on establishing formal sister town relations between Akureyri and Denver through cooperation in culture, education and trade.
The operations of the American-Icelandic Trade Council (AMÍS) will be revived with collaboration in the field of business, trade, culture and education. The inaugural meeting will be held in Reykjavík tomorrow where Hancock will give an address.
Denver is Icelandair’s ninth destination in North America. Flights will be offered four times a week, year-round.
Tourism is the second-biggest industry in Colorado and Hancock estimated when the destination was announced last autumn that Icelandair’s flights would provide an annual boost to the state’s economy by USD 28 million (ISK 3.5 billion, EUR 22 million).
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