The cuddly mascots on a mission

Loved by children across the Nordics, Lollo & Bernie are much more than our cuddly mascots. They are central to our work to create a safe space where children can play and be themselves – and an important part of our collaborations with Save the Children and World Animal Protection.

Meet Lollo & Bernie

A giraffe with a big heart and bear with a welcoming smile, Lollo & Bernie have been our hard-working mascots for over three decades. Lollo was first seen in illustrations in 1976, becoming a full-size mascot in 1990. Bernie joined her in 1994. Today, Lollo & Bernie are present in all our Sunwing & O.B.C. hotels, as well as selected Quality hotels in Sweden and Norway. They play with the kids, teach them valuable lessons and are present at every Kids Club Mini Disco.

For many children who holiday with us, the hotel Kids Club is the highlight of their year. Here, they can make new friends in a relaxed and fun atmosphere; learn about different cultures; and express themselves through arts, crafts and dance. They can also meet Lollo & Bernie, NLTG’s famous mascots.

Designed for children aged 0-7, our Kids Clubs give children a safe place to play, and parents a welcome break during their holiday. But at the heart of the concept is something more. We want to encourage children to move, learn and explore – whether they are in the hotel or at home – as Sharni Breinholt, Head of Concept & Curated Experiences, explains. “Lollo & Bernie are recognised and well-loved figures across the Nordics. This gives them the chance to positively impact children’s lives all year round.

We want to build long-lasting memories for children when they holiday with us. But we can also inspire them to learn, move and be creative when they are at home.”

Into the Lollo & Bernie-verse

The Lollo & Bernie universe is a comprehensive offering for children and parents that includes our hotel Kids Clubs, YouTube, Instagram and Spotify channels, as well as a dedicated webpage – lollobernie.com – that is packed with resources for families, such as recipes that children and parents can cook together at home. In line with NLTG’s mission to enrich lives, every activity and resource must be linked to at least one of Lollo & Bernie’s
core values: Meet, move, educate, create and adventure.

“It’s extremely important to us that Lollo & Bernie contribute positively to children’s lives,” says Sharni. “Around 90% of what we do on YouTube, for example, is related to being active. We realise that, even in the Nordics, a growing number of children are overweight. So, we make a lot of content that encourages kids to move or dance while watching, or to go out and play afterwards.”

SUPPORTING GLOBAL CHARITIES FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Hardworking as they are, Lollo & Bernie are also central to our work with Save the Children and World Animal Protection.

Cuddly Lollo & Bernie toys are some of the best-selling items in our Airshoppen inflight duty-free shop, hotel supermarkets and online. Since 2023, each toy has been sold with a message from Save the Children and a portion of each sale goes to the charity. Since the launch of the programme, this has resulted in a total donation to Save the Children of EUR 34,000. But our work with Save the Children doesn’t stop there. In 2023, we invited Save the Children to run a ‘train the trainer’ workshop with our HR Overseas team in Stockholm, focusing on how to act in situations of crisis or when children are hurt. These training programmes were then run with our overseas staff and the learnings were put into practice in our hotels and Kids Clubs in 2023-2024.

Additionally, Lollo & Bernie are part of our beach cleaning efforts at some destinations and many Lollo & Bernie activities focus on how to be a good friend to animals. In 2024, we took this one step further by designing a special card game in collaboration with World Animal Protection that promotes better understanding of animals around the world. The game was one of our most popular in 2024. In addition, two activities put extra focus on animals – Lollo's Safari and Bernie's Hiking. These are carried out every week in the Kids Clubs at our concept hotels, to the great delight of the children.

“Lollo & Bernie are recognised and well-loved figures across the Nordics. This gives them the chance to positively impact children’s lives all year round. We want to build long-lasting memories for children when they holiday with us. But we can also inspire them to learn, move and be creative when they are at home.”

Sharni Breinholt, Head of Concept & Curated Experiences, NLTG

Meet Sharni Breinholt

Even at the age 18, Sharni knew she wanted to work in the travel industry. Straight out of college in January 2002, she attended guide training school in Spain before taking on her first job as a guide in Tunisia later that year. She then began working in our Kids Clubs – with stints in Mallorca, Greece, Thailand, and the Canary Islands – and has been a key part of our work with children and families ever since. In 2007, she moved to Sweden to build a new family concept for NLTG and has been Head of Concept & Curated Experiences since 2015.

Whats next for our loveable mascots?

For Sharni, Lollo & Bernie have one of the most important jobs at NLTG. They are part of nurturing the next generation. Therefore, she and her team are keen to keep evolving and developing the Lollo & Bernie universe in a fun, sustainable and responsible way, by adding more activities, films, songs and resources.

“What we’re doing with Lollo & Bernie is really important, and I’m proud to work with the brand and team. We will continue to collaborate with partners, such as Save the Children and World Animal Protection, and put out positive messages, whether they are about meeting others with an open mind, beach cleaning or sorting waste for recycling in a fun
way. Whether we meet children on holiday or online, we can still have a positive impact on how they see and interact with the world.”