Lapland Hotels & Lapland Safaris are pioneers in sustainable tourism
Press release | Fri Dec 09 09:53:00 2022
Lapland Hotels & Lapland Safaris are strongly involved in Visit Finland's sustainable tourism development programme. To date, twenty-one Sustainable Travel Finland labels have already been awarded to these tourism companies, which represents 10% of all labels awarded in Finland. For Lapland Hotels, the label is a testimony to its long-term commitment to responsible tourism and the preservation of northern nature.
The STF label has been awarded to all Lapland Hotels' city hotels (Helsinki, Tampere, Arena, Kuopio, Oulu), and Lapland Hotels and Lapland Safaris in Levi and Rovaniemi, among others. Santa Claus Office, Lapland Ski Resorts Ounasvaara and Ylläs Ski Resorts Äkäslompolo have also been awarded the label for their sustainability work.
The Sustainable Travel Finland label awarded by Visit Finland requires the completion of a sustainable tourism development programme and commitment to sustainability criteria. The STF label covers economic, ecological, social and cultural sustainability. In order to be awarded the label, the applicant must also hold an environmental certificate, such as the Ekokompassi. It is not possible to apply for the STF label for the whole chain; each site must apply separately.
– "For us, obtaining the label is particularly important internationally. It allows us to officially demonstrate what we have been doing for years: we are constantly working on environmental issues and are committed to responsible tourism. In the spring, we already received the Ekokompassi certificate, which also made it possible for us to apply for the STF," says Maria Astrén, who is responsible for environmental issues at Lapland Hotels & Safaris.
New environmentally friendly ways are constantly being sought
Overall, Lapland Hotels now accounts for 10% of the STF labels awarded in Finland. However, getting the label does not mean that all the work has been done.
– "Sustainability work is never complete. For example, legislation and regulations can change or awareness can grow, and then you have to be alert. We are now committed to improving the environment. We want to be involved if new, more environmentally friendly ways of doing things can be found. The northern nature and a balanced relationship with nature are of paramount importance to us," says Astrén.
In recent years, Lapland Hotels has made many concrete environmental measures. For example, all of the Group’s locations switched to using 100% green electricity two years ago.
The most visible measure to customers has been the improvement of waste management. Lapland Hotels has led the way in sparsely populated areas in Lapland, where comprehensive recycling points are not a matter of course. In addition, Lapland Safaris is already using more environmentally-friendly four-stroke snowmobiles, and emissions from snowmobile safaris have been compensated for.
The Lapland Hotels & Safaris with awarded Sustainable Travel Finland labels:
Lapland Hotels Arena
Lapland Hotels Bulevardi
Lapland Hotels Bear’s Lodge
Lapland Hotels Hetta
Lapland Hotels Kuopio
Lapland Hotels Luostotunturi
Lapland Hotels Oulu
Lapland Hotels Ounasvaara Chalets
Lapland Hotels Riekonlinna
Lapland Hotels Saaga
Lapland Hotels Sirkantähti
Lapland Hotels Sky Ounasvaara
Lapland Hotels SnowVillage
Lapland Hotels Tampere
Lapland Hotels Ylläskaltio
Lapland Hotels Äkäshotelli
Lapland Ski Resort Ounasvaara
Ylläs Ski Resort Äkäslompolo
Lapland Safaris Levi
Lapland Safaris Rovaniemi
Santa Claus Office
More information about the STF label: https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/for-finnish-customers/services/travel/vastuullisuus/sustainable-travel-finland
For further information and interview requests, please contact:
Maria Astrén
Destination Manager, Environmental Affairs
Lapland Hotels SnowVillage
+358 40 484 1680
maria.astren@laplandhotels.com
Travel enterprise Lapland Hotels & Safaris offers northern experiences for all senses. It consists of Finland’s largest private hotel chain, Lapland Hotels, the largest event service company in the Nordic countries, Lapland Safaris Group Oy, and Lapland Ski Resorts.The Group has a total of approximately 1,700 employees.
Lapland Hotels has 19 hotels, more than 2,400 rooms and apartments, as well as over 10,000 restaurant seats around Finland: In Ylläs, Levi, Saariselkä, Rovaniemi, Olos, Luosto, Kilpisjärvi, Pallas, Hetta, Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu and Kuopio.
Lapland Safaris offers unique outdoor activities in eight destinations in Lapland: Rovaniemi, Ylläs, Saariselkä, Levi, Luosto, Olos, Hetta and Kilpisjärvi.Lapland Ski Resorts comprises five ski centres located in Ylläs, Luosto, Olos, Pallas and Rovaniemi. www.laplandhotels.com, www.laplandsafaris.com