Responsible tourism

We inform you about the purity of the air and the quality of the water in Salla and how we define this:

There is research data available on Salla’s pure air and nature, which is produced at the Värriö Research Station at Salla by the University of Helsinki. Studies show that the fresh tap water in Salla is significantly cleaner than even bottled water. The municipality of Salla monitors the quality of the drinking water.

We grow our tourism industry in a controlled manner:

Salla’s tourism industry is grown in a controlled manner, with examples such as the commitment of the municipality and travel association to responsible tourism, and the Sustainable Travel Finland pilot programme, which Salla is a part of. Salla sustainable tourism strategy guides the development and actions of sustainable tourism in Salla.

When it comes to tourism, we ensure that our guests are having a good time in Salla, which has the longest duration of stay in Lapland (5.3 days in 2022, with an average of 2.46 days in the rest of Lapland).

We inform you about how to behave in nature and take it into consideration:

In electronic and service communications, we invest in environmentally educative guidance to facilitate the environmental responsibility of our guests on their vacation. Our businesses use signs, buffet tags, customer information folders, and info TV marketing to help you make responsible choices. Our staff has been trained to instruct guests about environmentally friendly use of the outdoors, such as litter-free hiking and Everyman’s Rights.

Our employees know how to tell you about all things local:

The majority of our businesses are locally owned. Our businesses work with a lot of people from Salla who have a good level of local knowledge and understanding of the history and culture.

We prefer local products and producers:

Our businesses use local products and ingredients. Naruska salmon, local cucumbers, and Kursulainen baked goods can be found from both our shops and restaurants. The origins of the local products are listed on the menus. The souvenir selections of our businesses include local handicraft products. Our selection hierarchy is: Salla -> Lapland -> Finland.

We produce renewable thermal energy locally and we prefer renewable electricity:

The municipality of Salla produces renewable thermal energy out of wood chips in its zone heating plants and partially uses hydroelectricity. There are plans to open a windfarm at Nuolivaara, which is partially located in Salla.  The Salla Ski Resort only uses eco-certified electricity. Many of our tourist businesses are ecologically heated with wood chips or geothermal energy.

We operate using energy and water efficiently:

The energy efficiency agreement directs action in the municipality. We develop equipment-based monitoring, building technology, automation and ventilation to improve the efficiency of energy use. Many tourism businesses use water-saving solutions, such as water restrictors in taps and showers and water-recycling dishwashers in the restaurant kitchens. The water used for making snow at Salla Ski Resort is taken directly from the adjacent pond, where it flows back in the spring when the snow melts. The Salla streets and street network are LED-illuminated.

We get around and offer the possibility of getting around with low emissions:

Students living far from the centre of Salla use school rides to get to school. Shared rides are a popular means of transportation for commuter trips, such as for meetings and training. We promote opportunities to get around without cars on vacation. There are shuttle buses to and from the Kemijärvi night train connection, as well as the airports at Kuusamo and Rovaniemi. Shared rides are arranged between Sallatunturi and the village centre. A number of companies rent bikes that allow you to pedal smartly to a variety of services along LED-illuminated bike paths. From Sallatunturi, you can hire an electric car and electric fatbikes, all charged with eco-certified electricity.

We sort and recycle efficiently. We work to start bio-waste sorting in Salla.
Energy-recoverable waste can be sorted at Salla’s eco take-back points, as well as metal, paper, cardboard, bottles, glass, plastic packaging, clothing and textiles. Salla’s recycling centre accepts, for example, construction waste, metal, wood, garden waste, slaughter waste, cardboard, fluorescent tubes, batteries, paints, and WEEE waste. There is also a recycling hall at the recycling centre where you can drop off and pickup intact furniture, machines, bicycles and equipment. The tourism businesses actively recycle everything up to the frying grease. Some of them use cardboard and plastic presses. In the cottages, tourists can recycle according to the instructions or, if necessary, ask the entrepreneur for advice.

Salla is working hard to enable separate bio-waste collection in the region. The long distances and cold winters pose great challenges to this. Perhaps the biogas plant planned for the village of Saija will provide a solution in the future to our biowaste challenge. Bio-waste collection has started in the tourism companies in a cooperation with L&T during year 2020.

We are working to make railways available in the future for freight and passenger transport:
In the past, there was a railway connection from Kemijärvi to Salla. Rail transport to Salla has since ended, and the current link between Salla and the Kemijärvi night train is made by bus. Train is an ecological way to travel, which is why Salla is working to allow passenger transport by train all the way to Salla in the future.

We manage our forests sustainably and maintain our carbon sinks:

The forest is an important part of the livelihoods for the people of Salla. We have lived for centuries in the forest and have lived by both utilising the forest and cherishing it. Forestry has been an important livelihood in Salla since time immemorial. Salla is assisted in matters concerning forestry by the Salla Forest Management Association and the Salla jointly owned forest.

Salla’s jointly owned forest works determinedly to increase tree growth, taking the forest nature into account. The association has been involved in the PEFC forest certification scheme and the FSC forest certification scheme, and participates in the Metso forest biodiversity programme, among other things. The fundamental values of the jointly owned forest are responsibility for the environment and sustainable forest management. The Salla Forest Management Association also participates in the PEFC certification scheme, which seeks to take into consideration the preservation of biodiversity of nature in the activities of the association, to instruct their customers about the opportunities for the management and protection of natural sites, and how to meet the requirements of good nature management in forestry and logging.

App. 1/5 of the surface area of the municipality of Salla is a conservation area.

We offer local berries, mushrooms, wild game, fish, and herbs:

Salla’s restaurants offer a wealth of products made from locally-sourced ingredients, such as the Keloravintola (log restaurant) and Kiela Restaurant, which both offer a wide selection.

The drinking water is primarily Salla’s fresh tap water:

Our restaurants primarily serve fresh tap water. Tap water is also promoted through water bottles sold from our businesses, encouraging customers to fill their own bottles with our fresh tap water. Some businesses also have separate marked water points where you can fill your own water bottle for free.

We will guide you to visit the local nature and our nearby trails are within easy reach:

Our guides, info points, and receptions advise and instruct on how to get around on our trails. Our trails are marked and classified according to difficulty, and guideposts can be found along the trails. Trail maps are available for purchase from the Tourist Info, tourism businesses and Visitor Centre. Our local trails can also be found on the CityNomadi mobile app and the Outdoor Active app on our website.

Excursions are led by a guide who tells about the nature and how to visit it, as well as the history and all things local:
The majority of the guides working in Salla’s programme service companies are local and thus have good local knowledge. The stories on our excursions are genuine snippets of the experienced and lived life in the nature of Salla.

We develop our accessibility:
We strive to always be better at taking accessibility into account in our development efforts, related to the nature, communication, and services. Keselmäjärvi summer route is available also for the wheelchairs ( assisted) and baby carriage. Many of our guided safaris are available also for people with reduced mobility.

We develop tourism that respects nature:

Sustainable tourism is important for Salla, which is why we are involved in a number of development projects related to sustainability. Salla is also involved in the Sustainable Travel Finland pilot programme, and as a result of it we have four tourism businesses with environmental certifications. There are also pioneers among our companies, as our Keloravintola (log restaurant) was the first restaurant in Finland to receive the Green Key certificate. The Reindeer (Wilderness) Park received the certificate as the second programme service company in Finland.

Salla National Park was established in January 2022. At the Visitor Center you can get to know the fauna and flora of the national park. Oulanka National Park is partially located in southern Salla. An excellent way to explore the Oulanka National Park is to visit the Karhunkierros Nature Center in Hautajärvi.

We monitor the well-being of our animals and treat them appropriately:

The well-being of animals working in tourism is continuously monitored. Every animal has their own name, and they have sick leaves and holidays like people. The care and feeding of animals are carefully planned and regularly ensured. Animals are also entitled to additional holidays, if on certain days they don’t feel like working.

We welcome our guests to meet our flourishing animals in an authentic environment:

The Salla Wilderness Park provides access to reindeer in a gated area of 200 ha. During summer, we organise visits to our husky farms, where you can see the regular life of the dogs on their summer vacation.

We offer food from the local area and products from small producers:

Our restaurants offer a wealth of local food products. In addition to Salla, they are sourced from elsewhere in Lapland, such as pike from Kemijärvi and Lapin Panimo brewery products from Rovaniemi.

With food we respect local traditions and ingredients:

We use old Salla recipes to prepare sautéed reindeer and tarts, cherishing traditional ingredients.

We also offer vegetarian food:
Vegetarian options can be found in our restaurants, either as options from the menus or customised upon request. Vegan food is also available.

We reduce food waste:

Reducing food waste is part of our work with sustainability. We instruct our customers with buffet tags to minimise unnecessary food waste. We also develop our selection based on the monitoring of waste.

We guide guests to get to local destinations easily and safely:

The people working in the Salla tourism industry can instruct guests on how to get around safely on the local trails. Trail maps are updated regularly. Paper maps are available for purchase from Salla Tourist Info, as well as from tourism businesses. Trails can also be found on the CityNomadi app, on our website, and on the Outdoor Active app. Our trails are well marked and classified according to difficulty. We ensure that the trails are maintained.

Every company informs how to get around safely and how, for example, to prepare for excursions. Our guides also receive continuous training on safety issues:

Our programme service companies take care of providing the appropriate equipment and guidance for our guests. Our guides receive regular training according to a specific plan for safety and first-aid skills.

Safety planning:

Salla safety tourism strategy and safety team was launched already in year 2009. A Plan for Covid -19 safety travelling to Salla was launched in a cooperation with tourism companies and the leading doctor of Salla in year 2020.

We procure responsibly and require responsible activities from our partners:

Our tourism businesses are increasingly attentive to the sustainability of the products and services they procure. For example, the joint Salla collection is procured entirely with a sustainable approach. The collection is produced in Finland, it includes Lappish textiles, clothes made out of 100% recycled materials, and water bottles promoting the use of tap water. Sustainability is also taken into account in the printing materials. For the use of companies in their procurement we have made a check-list of responsible tourism and procurement. In purchasing services related to project work, the sustainability of the partner company is one of our scoring criteria.

We stop using plastic bags and disposable plastic containers:

Our restaurants and programme service businesses at Sallatunturi operate, almost without exception, without disposable plastic products. Restaurant Kiela and Keloravintola (log restaurant) have stopped using plastic straws, lids, and cocktail sticks. Salla Wilderness Park and Arctic Circle Safaris offer meals and drinks on their excursions from washable reusable containers.

When selling souvenirs and products from Salla’s collection, the customers’ purchases are primarily packaged in ecologically produced paper bags.

The majority of our guides are locals or people who have worked in Salla for many years, who know the history and culture of the region. The Salla Museum of War and Reconstruction also organises training sessions for local actors. The museum has prepared a list of the most important events in the history of Salla, and it can be used as a part of the orientation of new employees.Stories are an important part of the excursions organised by the Wilderness Park and others. They tell about Salla’s nature, history, and our ancient hunting and fishing culture.

It is important for us to communicate the sustainability work we have done in a truthful and transparent manner. We want it to be conveyed in all our communication and in all the actions we take. We implement environmental education work with our customer communication, for example, on our website, social media, TV info, business info packages, and our newsletters. We also strive to influence the development of customer segmentation, including through new tourism operator contacts.

We organise sustainability training and familiarisation for people working in tourism concerning operations that comply with our customer promise. The sustainability aspect is also part of the early education and schooling of our children.