Gree­tings from win­try Fin­land, ever­yo­ne! Last wee­kend Alp­land atten­ded the big­gest tra­vel fair in Nor­dic coun­tries, the Mat­ka fair 2019. It was once again exci­ting to see how the tra­vel world lies in 2019. The fair con­sis­ted of pro­fes­sio­nal days and the open days for public. Once again, the big­gest tra­vel com­pa­nies ope­ra­ting in Fin­land gave out free­bies and their annu­al brochu­res to address inde­cisi­ve tra­velers. Whe­re to go next?

We as Alp­land par­ti­ci­pa­ted in pro­fes­sio­nal days to ensu­re that we meet and con­nect with the most reli­able and open-min­ded part­ners. In this way we want to ensu­re you the authen­tic and once in life­time (or perhaps thri­ce?) tra­vel expe­ri­en­ces, offe­red by our part­ners but ope­ra­ted tho­rough­ly by us. We want to crea­te uni­queness by sowing tog­e­ther ser­vices alrea­dy avail­ab­le and using our local on-point know­ledge; in this way ever­yo­ne wins (our part­ner and you as a tra­ve­ler), and what is the most fasci­na­ting idea, also the ecosystem.

This beau­ti­ful World of ours is uni­que and the­re is only one of it. The­re is no need to be always buil­ding, pro­du­cing and crea­ting new. We all want to ensu­re that upco­m­ing genera­ti­ons will be able to enjoy the exci­te­ment of visi­t­ing ano­t­her coun­try, clim­bing to the top of the moun­tain, see­ing breath-taking sce­ne­ry and expe­ri­en­cing the wide spec­trum of color­ful cultures.

We need to appre­cia­te and pre­ser­ve this beau­ty. Our cho­sen desti­na­ti­ons, extra­or­di­na­ry Fin­land and stun­ning Switz­er­land were given the top pla­ces (1^st and 6^th) in the annu­al Good Coun­try Index. Only this shows, how much the­se coun­tries have to offer not only tra­vel-wise, but some­thing to expe­ri­ence on more broad scale.

Our mis­si­on in Alp­land has been clear from the very begin­ning: to chan­ge tra­ve­ling, espe­cial­ly bet­ween Fin­land and Switz­er­land. And how we do this: by loca­li­ty, no mass opti­ons or the easiest way to ope­ra­te. We will be moving wit­hin the cho­sen area, com­pact­ly, and won’t hop all over. In this way we will also make sure that local entre­pre­neurs with right values con­si­de­ring sus­taina­bi­li­ty will thrive.

One other and qui­te radi­cal aspect, very other way of thin­king tra­ve­ling, is to avoid fly­ing. This was a cur­rent topic just when Mat­ka fair was hap­pe­ning. Topic is so hot the­re was even an alter­na­ti­ve shadow fair in Hel­sin­ki con­cen­tra­ting on tra­ve­ling without fly­ing. A few ide­as to avoid one of the big­gest indi­vi­du­al car­bon foot­print acce­le­ra­tors were to tra­vel wit­hin our own home coun­try, tra­vel by bikes, easy to be taken on a train or sim­ply, try e‑traveling from your own sofa via Goog­le or Vir­tu­al­Tra­vel­ler.

Sus­tainab­le tra­vel acti­vi­ties are also as important as moving to the vaca­ti­on loca­ti­on its­elf. One examp­le is to con­si­der snow­mo­bi­les in Lapland: first snow­mo­bi­le tours were made by Finns in the 60s to tra­vel a cer­tain distance whe­re the roads were not usable during mid­win­ter. The­se tour par­ti­ci­pants had the idea of offe­ring fun for the tou­rists in the form of snow­mo­bi­le tou­ring. Back in the days it was hard to weigh in the envi­ron­men­tal cos­ts of such fun. The­re­fo­re, we as indi­vi­du­al decisi­on makers need to weigh in the con­tent of our holi­day trip. Authen­ti­ci­ty and sus­taina­bi­li­ty ver­sus super­fi­cial and dama­ging for the natu­re. It is a hard choice, no doubt.

This year’s Mat­ka fair made us in Alp­land even more deter­mi­ned about how future tra­ve­ling lies. You and I are tra­velers to each of our own extent. It is our duty and respon­si­bi­li­ty to think about indi­vi­du­al choices that we make. We want to be your help to make the­se decisi­ons easier, without com­pro­mi­sing unf­or­gett­able tra­vel experiences.