We are proud to share with you that we have been awarded the Sustainable Travel Finland (STF) Biosphere batch for sustainable tourism operations in Finnish Lapland! As you know, we are quite adamant about our attitude towards mass tourism and mass consumption of experiences. But that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Today, we decided to be as open as possible with you about the ongoing operational changes in our business – changes that we hope will help us grow and better ourselves and ensure we will be operating as a business in this environment for a very long time. This blog post may therefore be on the more serious side today, but we want to stay true to ourselves as a company and share with you also the things that move us internally.
What that means for us as a company
As a company, it is important for us to keep it real with our customers. Perhaps some of you may have noticed our recent changes regarding the pick-up locations. We have decided to no longer do pick-ups for accommodations located in Rovaniemi city center. For this reason, we will ask our guests from now on to walk to our office (located at Kansankatu 14), unless they require pick-up for reasons of physical impairment.
So, why have we decided to take this step? Rovaniemi city center is pretty compact, meaning that everything is within walking distance. We simply do not see the need to unnecessarily drive around for distances that often are under 300 meters. And we sincerely hope that other companies operating here at this beautiful Arctic destination will consider joining us with this decision.
What sustainability means to us
Of course, the first thing people think about when they hear sustainability is the environmental perspective – and rightfully so. I am not going to unnecessarily bore you with facts about sustainability, but should I have caught your attention, you may read up on the three pillars of sustainability on your own terms. But back to the environmental perspective for now. Sadly, we are living in an environment that is both extremely beautiful and fragile. Climate change is impacting the Arctic regions more than any other place on this planet and we are saddened by the future prospect of potentially losing this beautiful environment around us.
So, perhaps this step is not the right way to please everyone, but we want to leave no stone unturned in trying to contribute to preserving what we have left. And sadly, the changes are already quite visible; perhaps not to the tourists but to the people who have been living here for a decade or longer.
What you can do
Challenge your way of thinking. We decided to share this operational update with you today, because we have received quite many emails from customers who had questions about our decision to end city pick-ups. But are they really necessary? We are continuously trying to improve as a company. We want to be proud of the business that we work for. What good does it do, if we praise ourselves for operating sustainably on paper but then there is this huge dichotomy in terms of what we put out into the world?
With sustainability being the fundament of this company, we would say we are quite versed in it. However, we are not saying that we are getting it all right. That is why we need you! If you have further suggestions on what we can improve, how we can improve, please leave us a comment or get in touch with us on our other social media platforms.