Arctic Circle guest house, Vesteraalen Islands, Norway
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
The hostess at Skagakaia is the initiator of Ecotourism Norway and is the developer of the national ecotourism certification scheme. To sustain the environment in every act we do, and to be a responsible and respectful business within the local community is of vital importance for Skagakaia Guesthouse and our activities. In our every day life we do follow the more than 100 criteria of Ecotourism Norway and every day we aim at becoming more sustainable and more aware of the possibilities we have to be a true and honest ecotorusim operator in our country.
1) Wildlife: There is rich wildlife in our neighbourhood consisting of seals, elks, minks, foxes, otters, whales, killer whales, dolphins, eagles and a rich birdlife. We do not feed animals and we do nothing to attract them, they are a part of the wildlife treasured by us and our guests and something we talk about share knowledge about to our guests. We offer whale safari through our partner company, and while on tours we often spot wildlife. We have developed guidlines for encounters with wildlife, weather at sea or on land.
2) WASTE: Skagakaia is part of the local recycling system and all waste is sorted in different sections. There is no waste not sorted at Skagakaia. Our restaurant have own programme on reducing waste, we have a garden compost, we have strict measures to avoid leftovers and we have good control of our purchasing. We take herbes and berries from own gaden and we buy fresh fish from the fishermen, and we re use and/or return all possible packaging. Furniture, machines and kitchen utensiles etc are as far as it has been possible second hand.
ENERGY: We buy garanteed green electricity coming from local waterfalls. All light bulbs are energy efficient. We burn wood at extra cold days. Hardly any need for artificial lights most of the summer (midnight sun). Place is closed in the cold period.
BUILDINGS are carefully restored with advise and support of the Norwegian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
TRANSPORT: Our aim is that all activities can be reached by foot, bicycle or row boat. We offer row boats and bicycles to our guests and we always use the nearby mountains for hiking. For supermarked shopping (food) we have special free bikes available for our guests. We reccommend our guests to travel by buss from the local airports and we offer to pick up our guest at the buss on arrival/departure to make our place accessible for travellers without a car. We are highly aware of not offering motor based activities, though we do offer some boat trips for groups, using historic fishing boats with engine.
SUPPLIERS: We always bye locally to support the local shops and suppliers. It is of special importance to us to always use local produces, our fish is always caaght right off the coast and are often delivered directly at our quay by the fishermen. To use in our restaurant what we can get locally is a rule and our fish and meat is always fresh bought directly from the local producers. Berries and herbs are organic from our own garden. We also buy butter and cheese from local farms. Local fodd and traditional recipees are important parts of our consept.
Ecotourism is enriching nature and cultural experiences, facilitated by responsible tourism businesses who care for their guests, the
environment and the local community they are a part of.
Community
Skagakaia is my home, my history, my heart.. I grew up in this village and I know the people, the history, the places, the other businesses, the hidden paths in the hills and the islands ashore. A knowledge I'm happy to share with my guests.
Skagakaia is both a place for the tourists and for the locals. And my aim is to create a place for tourists to meet the locals.
For the local community our aim is to take care of the history of Skagen and the memory of those who have lived here and worked here in past genereations. This is taken care of by collecting stories, old pictures, taking care of the authentisity of the old buildings and the many historical items within the buildings. Many old people in particular come by to tell their stories and to memorice the old days.
Also for the local people our restaurant is a nice place for dining at special occacions with friends and family, and a place for cultural events or just a place to meet.
Local employees are hard to find, but so far our employees are all local and highly treasured. Family often play a vital role to make it work and sometimes guests work voluntarily to help out a few days and to learn about our culture, our food or to have a special travel experience.
We collaborate with the other tourism businesses in the area and we do recommend each other. We buy our groceries at the local shop and buy directly from local fishermen and farms. We are very aware of the important mission we have to share history of the place, tell the stories of the village, highlight our traditions and local food.
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