Salla Tourism Marketing Association won sustainable tourism award organized by Skål International Area Europe

Today was the Skål International Area Europe Annual Meeting. During the event were also Skål International Europe Sustainable Tourism Awards given. There were 4 awards delivered of one of those came to Northern Europe. Salla Tourism Marketing Association received award because their campaign “Give Back to Local Nature”. Ms. Heli Karjalainen, spokesperson and associated in this campaign couldn’t join to the event, so on behalf her and the team around this campaign, Kari Halonen, Vice President of Skål International Club Helsinki received the award. During the event, the following speech and greetings were delivered to the audience.

“On behalf of the Salla Tourism Marketing Association, we would like to thank for this valuable and significant recognition. It is an honor to receive this award, as it shows that our efforts to promote sustainable and responsible tourism have been noticed and appreciated.
We participated on this competition with the Give Back to Local Nature -Campaign, a project that is very special and important to us. The campaign aims to protect and restore the local environment as a form of “compensation” for the inevitable impacts tourism has on nature. The region of Salla, known for its breathtaking natural beauty and purity, is incredibly precious to us. We want to ensure that both locals and visitors can continue to enjoy it for generations to come. We are proud that through concrete actions, we are contributing to the preservation of biodiversity and the restoration of the environment.
This award strengthens our belief that tourism can be a sustainable and responsible industry, as long as its impacts are carefully managed and something is given back to nature. The Give Back to Local Nature -Campaign is also a proof to the fact that real collaboration between travelers and tourism operators can emerge to benefit the environment. We warmly thank everyone who has participated in the campaign, the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation, which made this campaign possible and is planning and executing the restoration efforts and once the campaign concludes, will ensure the continued protection of the area—as well as our partners, the international tour operators Icarion and Voigt Travel, whose significant donations have supported our campaign.
We also extend our thanks to Skål Europe for providing us and other organizations with a platform where we can share ideas, inspire one another, and learn new ways forward. This award serves as a motivation to continue our work with even greater passion and determination.
Once again, our heartfelt thanks on behalf of the Matkalle Sallaan Association. This recognition gives us strength and motivation to continue our efforts for nature and responsible tourism. Thank you.”

Heli Karjalainen

The other awards went to Austria, Italy and Spain. Congratulations to Salla and all those who were involved with this campaign.