About Holmsland Klit Tourist Association
Since December 1969, Holmsland Klit Tourist Association (HKT) has facilitated tourism promotion and development in and around Hvide Sande and Søndervig.
The members of HKT are companies and businesses within the area covered by the old Holmsland Municipality, and in many ways the establishment of HKT was also an expression of a kind of freedom struggle: Holmsland Klit understood early on the value and importance of being able to act freely and independently in relation to both municipal decision-making processes and the surrounding, larger municipalities.
Throughout the years (with the exception of 2004, when Holmsland Municipality subsidized the tourist information section), HKT has been run without municipal funding. HKT’s operation is thus financed by membership fees, partly by the proceeds from the holiday home rental established in 1973, and today operated under the auspices of Feriepartner Hvide Sande and Feriepartner Søndervig.
The construction is unique in that the ownership of the holiday home agencies and the profit from their operation gives HKT a relatively large financial leeway, while the tourist association can act and make decisions independently of political decisions and municipal budgets.
HKT's role and development to date
Not least because the tourist association is-and has always been-self-financing, HKT had a well-functioning, equal and constructive collaboration with Holmsland Municipality from the start, and HKT quickly became a key player in the development of tourism in Hvide Sande and Søndervig.
When surfing really started to boom in the 80s, HKT was given the area facing Ringkøbing Fjord on Gytjevej in Hvide Sande to establish Surfplads Nord. HKT built the surf center itself in 1992, and almost 14 years later received permission to establish a cable-driven water ski and wakeboard course immediately south of the existing surf spot.
In the meantime – in the early 2000s – HKT, under Henning Davidsen’s chairmanship, had begun work on developing an actual city tourism: HKT became the developer of the holiday home project on Langsand, which with a total of 54 holiday homes helped to change the cityscape in Hvide Sande, and influence the transition from fishing port to holiday destination. The fact that the lock houses were created under HKT and not by an external developer also meant that the project was carried out by local craftsmen and that creating value for the entire town could be prioritized.
Jørgen Iversen took over as chairman in 2003, and alongside the sale of the lock houses, the self-governing institution Hvide Sande Masterclass was founded, and in continuation of the strategic work to make the destination more attractive to families with teenage children, the cable car was established in 2006 as the first of its kind in Denmark.
After the municipal merger in the same year, the tourist information part of HKT was transferred to the municipal tourism organization (today merged with Varde Municipality in Destination Vesterhavet). Shortly after, HKT hired a destination manager to manage and coordinate the growing number of initiatives and events. A number of them, such as the water sports festival WaterZ, Hvide Sande Sportsfisker Center and Kunst i slusen, were established as independent institutions, while the Winter Swimming Festival in Søndervig is still run under the auspices of HKT.
Also worth mentioning is HKT’s artist house ART 56 at Tysk’havnen in Hvide Sande, where a new artist works, exhibits and invites you into the studio every 14 days during the summer months.
In connection with the execution of various activities and events throughout the season, HKT works closely with Søndervig Centerforening and the association Hvide Sande By.
At the same time, HKT supports a wide range of different local initiatives in Søndervig and Hvide Sande every year.
Destination Manager Lei Iben Raunow has an office at Feriepartner Hvide Sande, at Fiskeriets Hus. HKT’s warehouse – which includes tables/bench sets and Christmas lights – is located at Numitvej 2; a property HKT acquired in 2022, where Feriepartner Hvide Sande and Feriepartner Søndervig also have a warehouse and owner workshop.
If you want to get in touch with Lei, you can use this contact form.
