Responsible tourism

We have been granted certificates for our efforts for sustainability

All Harriniva Hotels & Safaris resorts have been awarded certificates for our commitment to developing sustainable tourism and protecting our environment.

Certification helps us forward on our path towards more sustainable and responsible operations and actions. The work is never done, but certificates will continue to guide us on our path.

Green Key

Green Key is international sustainability certificate and program. The participants must commit to continuous improvements in different aspects of sustainability, and report on them when making the annual re-application. 

Torassieppi Eco Reindeer Resort was our first resort to receive a sustainability certificate in 2020.

Good Travel Seal

Good Travel Seal is a sustainability support program for all tourism and travel related businesses and facilities. GTS criteria contains criteria in the field of environment and social responsibility among others.

In June 2023 Harriniva Adventure Resort and Jeris Lakeside Resort received Good Travel Seal certificates.

We’re committed to protecting our valuable nature in Lapland.

Harriniva Hotels & Safaris operates in the Muonio municipality in Western Lapland, right next to and partly inside the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park.

According to WHO studies, the national park has the cleanest air in the world.

Europe’s last wilderness

We feel privileged to be surrounded by the beautiful and pure nature we have here in Lapland. We also take responsibility for preserving it.

Like with winter adventures, we’ve been pioneering responsible tourism both in Finland and worldwide.

Here in Muonio, we‘re surrounded by clear blue lakes and rivers with endless fishing opportunities and quality drinking water.

Lapland is called ‘Europe’s last wilderness’ and the region is home to more reindeer than people!

Cultural heritage is part of being responsible

Finnish Lapland is the world’s largest wild food picking area, with a whopping nine million hectares of organic picking grounds.

Here the “everyman’s right” gives permission for anyone to freely pick wild mushrooms and berries.

Local cultural heritage is also close to our hearts: the Pietikäinen family that drives Harriniva Hotels & Safaris now in the third generation descends directly from the indigenous Sámi people of Lapland, namely the Vasara family. The Sámi are Europe´s only indigenous people.

How do we act responsibly?

1. Preserve the wilderness

As we are fortunate enough to operate in one of the few unspoilt areas of the world, close to the great Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park and in the almost untouched reindeer herding areas, we consider it our obligation to raise awareness of our surroundings and natural resources.

We do this in thousands of small ways but the main adaptations and contributions we have made are as below:

  • Our three resorts Harriniva Adventure Resort, Jeris Lakeside Resort and Torassieppi Eco Reindeer Resort all exclusively use geothermal heating since 2015-16. This reduces the consumption of oil used for heating by 200, 000 litres every single year.
  • We use 100% renewable electricity.
  • All of the waste from our Arctic Sled Dog Centre is composted. We’re doing research in partnership with the Muonio municipality in a bioenergy project that studies the options of turning this organic waste into energy.
  • We have electric car charging point in Harriniva Adventure Resort and we are researching the potential benefits of introducing them to all of our properties.
  • We recycle and reduce waste in all our hotels and wilderness cabins.
  • We never use paper or plastic disposable dishes. On our safaris and outdoor dining we use washable cups and plates from Kupilka, which are 50% wood and 50% recycled plastic.
  • We minimize towel changes in our accommodation which directly translates to less water consumption and pollution.
  • We only use unleaded gasoline in our snowmobile safaris which has completely removed this heavy pollutant. It does damage not only to the environment but also to the people exposed to it. 95% of our snowmobiles now operate a 4-stroke engine which is quieter, faster and cleaner – it offers smoke-free riding to protect the environment.
  • We work hard to raise awareness of changes to the environment among our guests and how their actions at home can directly impact locations such as ours.
  • Our activity programs all operate with environmental consideration, for example our safaris only follow marked trails to protect the flora and fauna.

2. Sell global, act local

Harriniva Hotels & Safaris is an internationally recognized tourism operator; 95% of our guests come from outside Finland. In 2015, we had guests from 45 different countries.

We are a significant employer in this remote region both directly and indirectly and we work hard to invest as much as possible into other local businesses. We do this the following ways:

  • We have a strong cooperation with local partners, smaller entrepreneurs, and the national park.
  • We promote locally and organically produced food (Torassieppi Eco Reindeer Resort restaurant serves only local and organic food).
  • We contribute to a local youth and children charity.
  • We attend and support demonstrations and lobby the government against large scale logging in Muonio.

3. Promote traditions and welfare

As a family company based in the Muonio, Lapland region for many generations, our aim is to inform our guests of authentic Lappish lifestyle.

All services are kept close to our nature, respecting the Lappish traditions, Sami culture, and animal welfare.

These are the values we keep in mind when designing the best travel experience we can.

  • We preserve Lappish traditions by respectful planning of programs and services.
  • We raise environmental and cultural awareness among our guests. These include reindeer herding as well as Lappish and Sámi cultural heritage presented in a genuine and authentic way.
  • We promote animal welfare on our husky, reindeer and horse tours and maintain excellent living conditions for our animals to keep them happy and healthy. We are founding members of the “Animal welfare in tourism” service, a project that cooperates with the University of Lapland.
  • We keep our family values at the heart of all our operations.