Tourism activities under the Sápmi Experience Quality Label are based on the common heritage of the Sámi. Sámi tourism must be sustainable over the long term. This means that tourism must be accepted and established, culturally and socially, in Sámi society, and the host must be able to communicate Sámi values and way of life. Sápmi Experience operators strive for social, cultural, ecological and commercial sustainability. They are companies that respect the integrity of the Sámi culture and work to prevent its objectification.

By Lennart Pittja

Sápmi (or Lapland) has long attracted visitors from all over the world, and today it is visited by millions of tourists every year. In spite of this bustling tourist activity, and even though Sámi traditions are frequently portrayed through various media, today we can see very few successful Sámi tourism companies. The Sámi community wants to change this, and wants to be more involved with decision making in the Swedish tourism industry.

By Pål K. Medhus

Høve Støtt’s main target is to create new standards in the production of experiences, at the peak of Norwegian tourism. To achieve this, we work constantly on developing authentic Norwegian ecotourism experiences. We always strive to achieve more, and we’re always hungry for knowledge. By engaging the local forces, we wish to show the culture and history that has made Geilo what it is today.

Pack your bags – EuroEco 2011 is coming up! The second annual European Ecotourism Conference (EuroEco) will be held in beautiful Geilo, Norway from May 29-June 1 2011. Hosted by Ecotourism Norway with support from TIES, the conference will provide a forum for an expected 150 members of the growing ecotourism industry in Europe to discuss critical issues and to learn from each other while sharing knowledge of tourism activities from across the region.

By Helle Sorensen

No culture is more grossly misunderstood and under-appreciated than the Vikings. Few people realize that the Vikings, though they led simple lifestyles, were amazingly effective and advanced. The circular forts are among the most impressive examples of Viking construction technique. Harald Bluetooth constructed two unique circular forts around 980AD in Denmark. The strict and precise geometric plans of these forts attest to the military, commercial, and administrative functions that these forts served.

One of the most important and endangered type of forests in Estonia is Western Taiga. Western Taiga is a complex forest habitat type, ranging from dry pine forest (Pinus sylvestris) to damp spruce forests (Picea abies). Some stands in such forests may be quite young, having regenerated after a forest fire that occurred over hundred years ago, while others are significantly more mature.

Estonia is the smallest and least populous of the three Baltic States which achieved independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. It is a land of great natural beauty, but still comparatively little known as a wildlife destination. However, the abundance of natural habitats is reflected in a very impressive avifauna which matches that of any other country in northern Europe.

By Natasha Robinson

Aivar Ruukel has made quite a name for himself in ecotourism, particularly in his native Estonia, where he grew up in the midst of the country’s largest pristine wilderness: Soomaa. Roughly translated as ‘Land of Bogs,’ the area is, in Ruukel’s words, “a vast complex of raised bogs, wet alluvial forests with fens, transition mires and unregulated rivers with flood-plain and wooded meadows.”

Although not widely discovered yet, Estonia is ideal country for observing one of the most spectacular natural shows – massive bird migration. This smallest and northernmost Baltic country lies on the crossroad of the Eastern Atlantic migratory flyway: Estonia is locked between the Finnish Gulf, eastern coast of Baltic Sea and Lake Peipsi near the Russian border. In this respect, geographically the Estonian waters and coastline are the natural stepping-stones, the most natural flyway between breeding and wintering areas for millions of Arctic waterbirds.