A total of 27 sustainable tourism STF labels awarded to Lapland Hotels & Safaris – recycling and animal welfare as this year’s themes

Press release | Fri Oct 13 09:25:00 2023

Almost all Lapland Hotels & Safaris units have received Visit Finland’s Sustainable Travel Finland label during the past year, which is a sign of commitment to long-term sustainability work. This year, the tourism company has developed recycling in particular and created a new kind of animal welfare criteria.

By autumn 2023, the tourism company Lapland Hotels & Safaris has been awarded a total of 27 Sustainable Travel Finland (STF) labels. The number is almost one-tenth of all STF labels awarded in Finland. Awarded by Visit Finland, the label requires the completion of a sustainable tourism development programme and commitment to sustainability criteria. In spring 2022, Lapland Hotels & Safaris was awarded the EcoCompass environmental certificate, which has enabled the company’s various units to also apply for the STF label.

So far, the STF label has been awarded to all urban Lapland Hotels (Helsinki, Tampere, Arena, Kuopio, Oulu), most of the hotels in Lapland, as well as all the locations of the experience service company Lapland Safaris (Levi, Luosto, Rovaniemi, Saariselkä and Ylläs). Santa Claus Office, the husky farm and Lapland Ski Resorts Ounasvaara, Ski Resort Luosto and Ylläs Ski Resorts Äkäslompolo have also been recognised for their sustainability.

– “We are of course extremely happy that our units are actively committed to sustainability work, and this is evidenced by the recognition they have received. For us, this is a sign of long-term work for responsible tourism and the preservation of northern nature,” says Maria Astrén, who is responsible for environmental affairs at Lapland Hotels & Safaris.

Plastic recycling for every location and new criterion for husky farms

For Lapland Hotels & Safaris, responsibility and its development are at the core of all operations. Responsibility means, among other things, respecting Lapland’s nature and local communities and creating well-being regionally: the company uses local service providers and ensures that the partners also commit to responsible operations. During 2023, Lapland Hotels & Safaris has promoted its sustainability programme with many concrete actions.

– “For example, we have intensified recycling and made plastic recycling possible in all our properties in the spring of 2023. In addition, all end-of-life textiles that are suitable for recycling are now delivered for reuse or processing,” Astrén explains.

In the last year, Lapland Safaris has created a more comprehensive animal welfare programme and criteria for husky farms. In addition, the experience service company has been actively involved in creating dog sledding safety instructions together with the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes). The company is also recalculating its carbon footprint and will introduce the first electric sleds for its safaris in Lapland this autumn. All Lapland Hotels & Safaris locations use 100% green electricity. The electricity used during the past year was hydraulic energy.

– “Receiving a sustainability label is a testament to the never-ending work we’ve been doing for years. We are always looking for new ways to act more responsibly, both in terms of the environment and social and economic impacts. We are committed to continuously improving environmental aspects, because the nature of the North and a balanced relationship with the nature are very important to us.

Read more about Lapland Hotels & Safaris’ responsibility actions: https://www.laplandhotels.com/EN/laplandhotels/sustainability.html

Safety instructions by Tukes: https://tukes.fi/en/safety-instructions-for-dog-sled-services

Visit Finland’s Sustainable Travel Finland (STF) sustainability label: https://travel-trade.visitfinland.com/en/sustainability/

Lisätietoja:

Maria Astrén
Destination Manager, Environmental Affairs
Lapland Hotels & Safaris
+358 40 484 1680
maria.astren@laplandhotels.com

Travel enterprise Lapland Hotels & Safaris offers northern experiences for all the senses. It consists of Finland’s largest private hotel chain, Lapland Hotels, the largest experience service company in the Nordic countries, Lapland Safaris Group Oy and Lapland Ski Resorts.The Group has approximately 1,700 employees in total.

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 five destinations in Lapland: Rovaniemi, Ylläs, Saariselkä, Levi and Luosto.

Lapland Ski Resorts comprises five ski centres located in Ylläs, Luosto, Olos, Pallas and Rovaniemi. www.laplandhotels.com, www.laplandsafaris.com