One week untill the Netherlands!

EMCup is getting closer and in one week we will be in the Netherlands! We are so excited about going there and joining EMCup 2016! The preparations for the competition are in a good point, but we still have some things do before the plain departures from the Rovaniemi Airport on Friday morning. 

So what exactly have we been doing lately?

• Getting ready for the competition with different rehearsal assignments
• Shopping for the outfits for the competition
• Being super busy with studies and starting the thesis process
• Planning what needs to be packed for the trip 

And of course launching the latest competition! Watch the video to see what it is! ;)

Have a nice weekend everyone! :)

Something you might not know about Finnish Lapland

Hello everyone! We have introduced ourselves already but now we're about to tell you something about the place we live, Lapland. You all have some kind of idea what Lapland is, and you're all probably right. Now let us tell you perhaps something more!

- Lapland is known for it's beautiful nature: fells, rivers, forests and lakes.
- Nature provide us with multiple products you can only find in Lapland, for example different berries

Cloudberries. Photo: Lapland Above Ordinary

- In surface area Rovaniemi is the biggest city in Europe
- There are approximately same amount of people and reindeers living in Lapland
- Every reindeer belongs to someone

Reindeer sleigh

- By the way, never ask a reindeer owner how many reindeers they have.
- Yeah, we got the Santa Claus as well!
- At midsummer the Sun doesn't set at all
- In winter we have "Kaamos" which means the Sun doesn't rise at all

Midsummer. Photo: Lapland Above Ordinary

- We have our own aboriginal people called Sami people
- Best time to spot the Northern lights is from September to March
- In winter we go ice fishing, snowmobiling, skiing and skating
- We have way over thousand kilometers of skiing tracks in Lapland in spring

Cross-country tracks

Snowmobiling

- Only 3,6% of Finnish population lives in Lapland
- If you want to eat something really Lappish, taste sauteed reindeer and squeaky cheese!
- "Kuksa" is a wooden cup that is very common among Lappish people
- There's a Lappish belief that you can loose your luck if you wash your Kuksa
- People make a hole in the ice and go swimming in the lakes and rivers. We call it "avanto".

Kuksa

Lappish leather boots. Photo: Lapland Above Ordinary

So here's something you might not have known about Lapland yet, Of course, the best way to learn more is to discover it yourselves!

- Pure Arctic Madness

Degree Programme in Tourism

We are back from the holidays with a new post! Hope you all had a relaxing holiday and a great start for the year 2016.

As promised, I'm going to tell you a bit about our Degree Programme in Tourism where Linh and I study. After 3,5 years of studying you should gather 210 ECTS and graduate as a Bachelor of Hospitality Management (in Finnish restonomi). The intake is 30 students per year and studies are located in Rovaniemi at MTI campus. Half of the students are Finns and half foreigners. Our group is quite small with only 15 students. You can find more information by visiting our webpage from here. From there you can find groups curricula and interesting student stories!

Studying in English is a great way to practice the language. People (at least in Finland) are often too shy about their language skills, but that's usually unnecessary. It is actually not that common that there are native English speakers in the international groups, so no one is perfect. The first semester is the hardest, but when you get past that phase, you soon realize how difficult it is to study even in your mother tongue.  Besides, you get to know people from different countries and cultures! :)

Picture: Essi Koski

Linh and I are in the same group, now in the third year of our studies. Thesis project is starting and graduation is getting more serious! So what have we been actually doing the last two and half years??

We do have normal lectures and exams (sometimes). But mostly we do group works, presentations and write reports. However, we have organized several events where we students have planned and implemented the whole thing right from the beginning. We have also visited lot of local companies and learned about their operations. There are two training periods included into our degree and also a field work during the first year. The field work is done in SantaPark as an elf! 

Studying is not just boring lectures from eight in the morning till four in the afternoon (at least not always). It is so much more and the school can give you so much if you just take the chances. The best thing about University of Applied Sciences compared to University is to learn by doing and at least that is the best way to me. 

Got interested? Great! You can apply to English degree programmes untill 27th of January!

- Anni

Hyvää joulua! Merry Christmas!

In Finland we celebrate Christmas already on Christmas eve on the 24th of December.Traditional Finnish Christmas consists of sauna, Christmas food, chocolate, ginger bread, prune jam pastries, decorating Christmas tree, Santa Claus's visit and of course giving and receiving presents. In Finland, Santa Claus brings the present and sits down with the family for a while before heading to the next family. Usually, the children are asked to sing a song to Santa Claus.

Traditional Finnish Christmas food are for example Christmas ham, salmon, potato and carrot casserole, rosolli (mixed salad with boiled beetroots, carrots, potatoes, apples and pickled cucumber, rice porridge and mushroom salad. As a dessert we eat prune jam pastries, ginger breads and plum soup and we drink glögi (mulled wine). Usually there is an almond hidden in the rice porridge and the person who finds it, gets a present or a wish. 

Pure Arctic Madness wishes you all merry Christmas! 

How to attract Seniors efficiently on your Homepage?

One of the pre-assignments for EMCup2016 was to write a paper about Surfing the Silver Wave. Our team, Pure Arctic Madness decided to make an analysis about hotels' webpages and their senior-friendliness. We base our analysis on a research about what qualities and features make a webpage easy to use for older people.

Features of a senior-friendly webpage:

- Readable Font size 

- Easy to navigate

- Good click-ability, no moving objects etc.

- Main items presented directly on the homepage

- Allows you to make a mistake

Seniors are slower than average Internet user to finish their task online. Thus, it's important to keep your webpage simple and straightforward. 

We analysed hotel webpages like Ibis, Novotel and Mercure from the Accor chain, Radisson Blu and Park Inn from Carlson Rezidor chain and Crowne Plaza from IHG. Some of the pages had good features for attracting seniors but for few of the pages, it was easy to say that their main target was not with the senior travelers.

Our analysis also covered different offers and packages ment for seniors. Seniors are very versatile on what they want for their trips. Some ought to experience wellness and spa in a relaxing environment while some enjoy more exploring city trips. In common to these cravings is that seniors appreciate accessibility and straightforward reservation process that should be taken into account while planning offers and packages for older people. 

When considering special offers and packages for seniors, there is room for improvement in the analysed webpages in this segment. Some of the hotels had already considered these kind of offers but in most of them, seniors should have to settle for regular prices and packages.

Senior-friendliness is the current trend. Making your webpage and special offers as accessible as possible is a great step in achieving this emerging segment's attention.

- Pure Arctic Madness

Get to know Linh

Hello the World! 

Here's Linh. I am soon turning 21 in two weeks! I am a third year tourism student at Lapland University of Applied Sciences. Ending up pursuing my higher education in the very northern of Finland has its interesting sides and stories. From here, I got a chance to do different things, such going for an internship abroad in Germany and then going for an Erasmus exchange in Austria. All of those times gave me plenty of memorable moments and experience. 

I'm still on my way finding out my real aspirations which I want to do in the future. Meanwhile, it is worth to go places and experience as much as I can!

At this moment, I'm really excited about the EMCup competition. Together with the other members, we all hope to gather, make friends as well as learn from the participating teams all over Europe!

Pure Arctic Madness is coming!

To all my friends and followers and gonna-be followers, keep supporting us! Your engagement with us would be very valuable! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram! <3

Have you met Anna?

Tandem skies!

Hello! Now it's my turn to introduce myself! 

My name is Anna Pälä. I'm 21 years old and studying hospitality management in Multidimensional Tourism Institute in Rovaniemi. Oh yeah, and a team member in Pure Arctic Madness!! I come from a little countryside village called Suodenniemi which is located in the Southern Finland near city of Tampere. In my family there are mom, dad, sister, brother, his girlfriend, my nephew and our dog.

My graduation with my brother Lauri and Annika

I've always loved Lapland and since we were little, my family visited some ski resort every year. In my gap year I worked in a restaurant in Pyhä Ski Resort. There I found the spark to study hospitality management and I didn't want to leave Lapland so Lapland University of Applied Sciences was an answer to my wishes. Now I'm here and loving what I do!

Skiing in Ylläs

A view in Pyhätunturi

At school I've found amazing friends and plenty of opportunities to be a part of different projects. This EMCup2016 is a good example of these kind of opportunities :) Next summer I hope to do my advanced training somewhere abroad to experience even more.

Hosting Resto2015-competition with Lauri

I love traveling, cooking and baking, outdoors, snow, hanging out with friends, sports and trying everything new. I'm bad at saying "No" when someone suggests something new to do. Due to that I always find myself in different situations and that's also something that keeps me going!

Berlin

Just chilling in Turkey

Visiting Stockholm

Okay, I think one of the best ways to get to know someone is to hear their Bucket List. So, here's few parts of mine:

- Go interrailing through Europe

- Go Bungee jumping

- Participate in a food war

- Make a perfect Creme Brulee

- Try skijoring with a horse

I don't know if you agree with me about the Bucket List's but at least now you know something more about me!

Tourism tutors in Autumn 2015

Maybe that's enough about me for now but stay tuned, our EMCup journey has only began!

- Anna