"Tourism should be sustainable and responsible."
My ideas of tourism align with sustainable, responsible companies that focus on a circular economy aiding the growth of local communities. A well-programmed tourism structure manages to keep the local economy and identity unadulterated, pouring the benefits reaped back into the community for sustenance. To gain perspective in the work environment and culture of Finnish tourism industry, I chose to do my training locally with a Finnish family run business.
Adventure Apes based in Kuusamo, Finland is a company born out of passion for adventure travel experiences and the idea of sharing the same with everyone; providing tailor made and culturally authentic adventures around Finland for individuals, families, students, teams. Heidi Savolainen, founder and managing director of Adventure Apes is also one of the industry leaders in accessible travel providing tours for those with visual impairments and other disabilities, promoting inclusivity in adventure travel.
Learning by doing and taking a deep dive into a whole new world
I found the company coincidentally when I was working on an assignment for Basics in Services course, further studying the business ideas, services, and values I decided to try my shot at being part of the team at Adventure Apes. The team had a variety of skilled people, our lead guide, a professional photographer, aurora hunter, and wilderness guide Patrick who used to be a trainee for Adventure Apes and is now one of the lead guides; Heidi herself, in a supporting role and safety in charge; and four student trainees from departments of youth/ community education, wilderness guiding and tourism management.
I started my orientation with the safety binder that Heidi handed me, it had information on the company culture, safety and action plans, fire safety instructions and other preliminary details I should know before starting my work on the property. I had to do a SWOT analysis on myself and present it to Heidi and the team on day 1, it was a good way to see where my skills are and orient me accordingly. It also gave me some confidence as to where I can contribute in such a foreign setting – with no experience in winter or winter gear. I took a shadow role the first few days to observe our lead guide and other trainees, learning by doing was something I loved as the moments demanded me to be a quick efficient learner.
From tour operator to destination management
The first three weeks with the company and team onsite helped me develop an idea on what and how the operations are, so I could prepare myself for the upcoming Fam trip that Adventure Apes was planning for a group of Indian school principals. The idea was to promote the educational school camps to Indian market, not just with Kuusamo Adventure Apes lodge as base, but by including similar minded business partners around Finland. This way we started coordinating with Visit Finland and other DMOs (Visit Lahti, Visit Jyvāskylā, Visit Oulu, Visit Tampere) to plan the Fam trip. This way Adventure Apes graduated from being a tour operator in Lapland to a destination management company in Finland.
After this, I had clarity in my role and what I can offer Heidi and her team in future endeavors. She was also able to trust me with more responsibilities after those three weeks; I had the pleasure of aiding her in planning a scouting trip in Jyvāskylā region with the help of Johanna Maasola of Visit Jyvāskylā region. This increased my interests in DMOs and their operations, I started looking for interesting unique places, businesses around Finland and started to familiarize myself with the tourism operations here.
A one of a kind experience and look into the industry
The fact that I was around during the inception of this idea, I got to help plan it and then implement it; gave me a complete picture. Working with Heidi and Pāivi Antila of Visit Finland, Johanna Maasola from Visit Jyvāskylā in the weeklong Fam trip twice has been very educating and helpful for my career and networks; Being part of Adventure Apes I have met extremely intelligent, capable, kind people in all levels of tourism which gives me hope and motivation in the industry.
