Hotel Astor, located opposite the railway station and Vaasa Tourist Center, has been awarded the Visit Finland Sustainable Travel Finland label. Based on the sustainable tourism program launched last year, 84 badges have been awarded to companies, but Hotel Astor is the first hotel in Vaasa to be awarded the Sustainable Travel Finland badge.

The purpose of the Sustainable Travel Finland label is to promote sustainable tourism in Finland, to communicate more uniformly about Finland as a country of sustainable tourism, to facilitate tourists' choices and to start and increase cooperation on sustainable tourism between municipalities and other public actors, regional organizations and companies. In order to receive the label, the company must meet the criteria set by Visit Finland, which take into account both economic and ecological as well as social and cultural sustainability. 

Hotel Astor is the first company in Vaasa to be awarded the STF label and a real leader in the city. In February, the sister hotel Närpiö, Hotel Red & Green was the first hotel between Tornio and Turku to receive its badge. Hotel Vallonia in Mustasaari will receive its award in the near future. It is important to show that you care about the environment. For the summer, the hotels will launch a new hotel package with the idea of ​​cycling from one hotel to another and on the way, hotel guests will enjoy nature and all the favourite spots along the way. All local holidaymakers as well as those coming from further afield can book a package. This package is really environmentally friendly, says hotel manager Petra Gästgivars Lundberg.

At Hotel Astor, responsibility is reflected in practical activities such as recycling, minimizing food waste, support and services for local actors. The hotel is working to reduce its electricity and water consumption, and last year the hotel’s faucets were replaced with water-saving models. Hotel guests are encouraged to travel in an environmentally friendly way, and this is what many guests do, as they often arrive by train or bus. Hotel guests can also rent hotel bikes. The entire staff of Hotel Astor participates in responsible work and everyone has a genuine desire to develop their operations.

We wanted to receive the Sustainable Travel Finland label, because we already work for sustainable tourism and we also want to develop and further improve communication about our operations in the future. We also wanted to get inspiration and new ways to take responsibility issues into account in our operations, says Petra Gästgivars Lundberg, the hotel's CEO.

I am very pleased that the first companies in the Vaasa region have reached the top. In the Vaasa area, we work hard together with Pietarsaari and Kristiinankaupunki to help, train and implement this together with our companies. It will take time, but good will come and we can learn more and more, says Max Jansson, CEO of Visit Vaasa.

More information to the media:

Petra Gästgivars Lundberg, CEO. Hotel Astor
petra (at) astorvaasa.fi 0440 197 462

Max Jansson, Verkställande CEO. Visit Vaasa
max.jansson (at) visitvaasa.fi 040 533 5083

Heli Hemgård, Communications Manager. Visit Finland | Business Finland
heli.hemgard (at) businessfinland.fi 040 901 5219

Visit Finland is a part of Business Finland www.visitfinland.fi / www.visitfinland.com / www.businessfinland.fi