This picture cought my eye on the fence that protects Kiasma´s,- the museum of contemporary art – renovation in the heart of Helsinki. I just could not leave this picture unpublished and without sharing. Maybe I will get you attention now, since this includes a kind of idea of the Helmi students opening their eyes On Tour. The Sami demonstrators had added their commentary on the poster of Finland and the human rights.
This time ON TOUR the 10th February we were observing bits and pieces of the culture of Helsinki, learning history and life and listening to wise learned specialists and professors.
We started our tour at the City Hall, where Nora Couavoux introduced us the Virka-gallery,a large public area on 1st floor of the building.There are lots of interesting information to be found, brochures and maps are available to all.
Helsinki is changing constantly. The biggest plan to be materialized is the former cargo harbor areas on the downtown coastline now being under development to new residential areas and venues for new businesses, traffic and space for the people and nature. Interesting innovations are developed in constructing the energy saving buildings, waste management and traffic. Laituri is the place for more information: http://laituri.hel.fi/
The Senate Square is the most important place for Helsinki guides. There one can learn the history of Helsinki and Finland from the beginning of the era of Gustav Vasa who founded the city at 1550. The City Museum on Sofiankatu gives all necessary details of all eras of Helsinkis existence.
The History of Finns begins already from approximately 3000 years BC, but Finland officially started to exist first as a nation 200 years ago and the Senate Square is a symbol for that.
The Senate Square is the place that expresses the ideas of Alexander I of Russia, who conquered Napoleon together with the Russian winter and united the eastern part of Sweden, that is Finland, as an autonomous Grand duchy part of the Russian Empire. This status was declared at the Porvoo Diet in 1809 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porvoon_valtiop%C3%A4iv%C3%A4t
The emperor commissioned the design of the Senate Square from a German architect Carl Ludwig Engel. Mr. Engel is in charge of also many other buildings in Helsinki. He lookd like this and you can find more info here: http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Ludvig_Engel
The layers of building a city can be observed from history, there are several good books. I just started reading a book of the Senate Square by Anja Kervanto Nevanlinna & Laura Kolbe: Senaatintori – Suomen sydämessä. Siltala 2012.
And one of the best sources of the post II World war is this:
Helsingin historia vuodesta 1945. 4 :Voimat jotka rakensivat Helsinkiä 1945-2010 / Anja Kervanto Nevanlinna
There was a nice story in Hesari last week of Helsinki´s statues taking selfies, really worth of viewing:
We the took us to the Bock House to listen to two lessons, first given by Jaakko Blomberg who is an activist and works with a group organising free events in the city. Their succesful days are the Cleaning Day, Dinner under the sky of Helsinki, Hoffice etc. Get more information from here www.yhteismaa.fi. Ravintolapäivä – Restaurant Day has also become a great success and on that day everybody can put up an own restaurant and sell food on the street or at home or at any other suitable venue. http://www.restaurantday.org/fi/
Helsinki between the Eastern and Western Europe
Then Laura Kolbe lectured of Finland´s position in the north between Eastern and Western Europe.
She started on showing and explaining to us how the established powers have been manifestated also on the Helsinki city masterplan. The structures of power are shown in other European cities, too in almost the same way. The Senate Square has been a stage of the powers that represent the republic.
In this picture Mannerheim is bestowing the power of the country from the military forces to a civil administration after the Civil War of Finland in 1918.
Finland is a rural country where three major powers in the course of history have united people – plus the Swedish speaking minority. These groups are the Conservatists, The Agrar Center Party and The leftist Social Demmocratic party. The labour movement marches on the Senate Square in the picture above.
In the city centre of Helsinki the powers of the military force, the church, the governement, the education, the temples of industry and trade, power of the banks and maybe a little hidden inside the buildings also the power of multinational ownership of the valuable real estate is located.
The modern Finland is fragmenting into several social groups and currents and one example of today´s manifests is the march of the gay movement on the Senate Square. The Academic world is in connection to the square as the University of Helsinki and the National Library stand on the western side of the Square.
And the formal events of the academic ceremonies give the sense of science and drop a few laurels on the cobble stones.
These few months have been quite an experience with you guys,
I write this posting in just reminiscing things that I have written down or taken a picture. We started the semester in September and since a lot has happened, a lot of learning, too. It is good to sum up now if I have learned anything.
Christmas Holidays:
Christmas was a very happy time. My granddaughters left home on Monday last week and we spent 24 hours together daily through Christmas holidays. I did not give a thought to my students. Thank you for that.
And we had the most varied weather. The Heavens gave a miracle on 21st December and a real Winter Wonderland descended also on the southern coast of Finland. We spent a lot of time in the snow, lit a fire by the barbecue place in the Ullas Park in Kallvik. We had sausages with us to grill outdoors but it became too cold to eat them outdoors so we came in. The best things are very simple and free. I wrote about winter holidays in Helsinki a couple of years back: ”Polar bears seen in Helsinki last week.” http://ullisexperience.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/polar-bears-seen-in-helsinki-last-week-2/
What did I learn: Helsinki is a great place for winter holidays with children. We have to emphasize the develop of service design for children on our courses. When children are happy, the family is happy and daddy is happy to pay. What do children desire? I love to learn more about this, and I will.
Porvoo
We experienced some snow already in Porvoo the week before, where Heather introduced us Hommanäs chutneys and jams and some organic beer from Malmgård. We enjoyed the taste, except for the beer bottle stayed closed.Hommanäs is an old manor, original home of Stefan Löfving who became a hero in the 18th century fighting bravely against the intruding Russian troops. The manor was developed by Brita Andersson, always a very hard working lady who established a succesful catering and travel business. His son now continues the company. Read more: http://www.hommanas.com/en/
It is worth to know also Malmgård. The organic beer of Malmgård is sold in many shops and restaurants. The Manor has been owned by a nobel family Creutz from early 17th century, the Count of Malmgård Johan Creutz, runs an enormous estate of 500 hectares of ecologically cultivated fields. The total land area of the manor is one of the biggest in Finland including wild forests and kilometers of the coast of the Gulf of Finland. They even have a private game keeper to tend the wild beasts in the forests. The manor house itself is full of treasures, historical artifacts and documents, art, the library full of rare books and manuscripts. The Count has told that they have a rule in the family that each generation can bring to the house what they want but nothing is taken away when the generations change. http://malmgard.fi/wordpress/?page_id=12&lang=en
Porvoo river runs on the western side of the oldest road in Finland, in Porvoo this way is called Jokikatu. The route is known as the King´s Road. http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuninkaantie . The road was kept by the order of the King of Sweden between (Bergen, Norway) Stockholm and Vyborg and Moscow as a post route. Porvoo is the second oldest town in Finland. Turku was founded first. Porvoo is first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century. Here some Wikipedia information of Porvoo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porvoo
Porvoo as well as rest of the country have strong rural roots. Once professor Matti Klinge asked his audience: What is changed in two hundered years in Porvoo, when we know that the city and the surrounding region have preserved most of it´s old buildigs? – The people. You don´t see people working in the fields or streets anymore. All are indoors and the machines take care of agricultural work. ” This picture in Haikko manor gives still the feeling of old days and one can imagine the original odour of cowhouses and warm milk.
What did I learn: Eastern Uusimaa is interesting. New target markets could be developed: Swedish clients could experience the history of Sweden. There are many memories and stories starting from the Viking era. The borders between the Imperial Russia and Kingdom of Sweden has changed during centuries and the border zone lies in the Eastern Finland.
Tuomaan markkinat at the Senate Square
We learned about entrepreneursihp this autumn and arranged a benchmarking in Tuomaan markkinat. I traced many of our students at the Senate Square benchmarking and exploring the businesses. Here Laura Kavas and Itzel Rocio Labra Degante tasting the warm drink flavoured with orange flower. I tasted it too and it turned me green. On the way to the square I stopped at Minna Parikka´s shoe store. This is one of the best design shops in Helsinki. I found just matching shoes for Anu: and these would suit on Maarit:
and as for me, I love my red boots.
What did I learn: It is nice and sustainable to window-shop presents to your friends.
Happy Guide Helsinki
On the same night we learned a lot of Karri´s (Karri Korppi, Happy Guide Helsinki) presentation at the Lasipalatsi – he told us how to become a succesfull travel entrepreneur in Helsinki in just one year´s time. Karri´s success is based on top quality of services, trained guides who are on payroll, and an excellent feedback from the clients. Karri´s best marketing tool has been the Trip Advisor and you can view it here: http://www.tripadvisor.fi/Attraction_Review-g189934-d4097332-Reviews-Happy_Tours_Helsinki-Helsinki_Southern_Finland.html#REVIEWS
Also Heather tells her best marketing tool has so far being the Trip Advisor.
Maarit had arranged Helmi College travel students the possibility to participate in decorating a Christmas tree in the garden on the National Museum. Maarit´s design consisted of reusable white styrofoam pearls with Helmi light green ribbons.
and here we sing Jingle Bells. The rest of the team met others in the Railway Station Square but I decided to pop in the museum first:
What did I learn: The spring is coming, look at river running free in the Twenties. I have a lot to learn of our culture and history. And I will find ways to fight for free rivers. And when coming out of the museum the Christmas tree park was full of admirers and I heard them praise the shining trees. I learned that there are millions of ideas just waiting to be carried out and realised.
Lectures
We had several interesting lecturers during the autumn. Tuomo Meretniemi, the former CEO of Aurinkomatkat – Suntours told us what it means to operate online. He said: ”In the Internet everybody is the same size”. He is designing a round the world sailing with his family. http://vimeo.com/103750043
What did I learn: I am not quite sure if I agree with Tuomo that the Internet is equal to everybody. The old wisdom ”where the money is on the move there are the robbers, too”. There are big players and there are small players. But the swift ones can manage. Yes. I learned this: If you publish anything online – be ready to accept that it is published. And I learned that one has to be brave and bold and prepared in the internet, it is a great net with great opportunities.
We learned about the marketing strategy and tools of Helsinki. This is tourism promotion, introduced by Outi Leppälä.
Mari Suihko works on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and she showed us the charming world you can operate on different type of cruises. The fleet of the company is suitable for all needs and tastes and many of the cruisers have been built in Finland. In Matka Travel Fair a number of our students train on the RCCL: stands.
Tourism teachers meet in Jyväskylä
Dr. John Swarbrook has written many good books, we all in travel have read his book of the Sustainable Tourism. It meant a great deal to me some 20 years ago. He gave a shuddering lecture to tourism teachers in November in Jyväskylä. Here is what I wrote down, it is worth of reading:
”We are in the middle of the Experience Economy”, he says and gives his thesis:
Traditional approaches to customer segmentation no longer work. Impact of Internet, online services is essential, we have to design globally available products.
We should create customized experiences and understand the importance of co-creation (with clients and inside social networks).
Inventing constantly new tourist experiences is vitally important. The tourist will buy anything new. Service products should be the antidote to everyday life of stress and unhealthy way of living. The tourist service product can be a help – not cure.
They pay anything for that. Make people feel good and less guilty.
Why don´t you utilize the best invention in the world, your SAUNA! You just happily sit on it.
A day in a spa – SAUNA EXPERIENCE – will take their guilt away.
Your airline Finnair is a budget airline but with high prices and no service. The new Sky bistro is a ridiculous way to cover this fact.
VFM = value for money. Tourists are looking for added value. They want to feel they have made a good deal. They need popular culture, too, sports programs.
In Finland the websites and brochures promote things of not very peculiar interest. Little municipalities are branding themselves. In the pictures are no people, all is dead. There is actually nothing that would make me come here. Take the tourist´s point of view!
Start product development. Your training lacks product and service development.
Your service lacks finesse. If a tourist comes to ask fo a service, the answer is: NO.
Last night I was asking at the hotel if I could loan an iron to iron my shirt. The answer was: NO. Not “sorry, but …”. I said that you definitely have an iron in this house or a service to get one´s shirt ironed. – NO. I asked: Why? –We used to have them but some clients stole and we ended the service. That’s all.
Dear friends: Please you could at least pretend to give good service. Finésse in service requires education in other service environment, like in Switzerland. And I am not saying anything of the service up in the North where they have a very poor quality.
You should educate tourism professionals to behave politely, let your students learn the good manners, dignity. The mechanical work skills, hard work and caring about the job and the clients should be a part of the professional integrity.
And above you will see some of his slides. Well, some have the jungle and exotic animals..
we have the exotic tourism teachers and the sauna. Here Anu with Reija Sandelin from Haaga-Helia. Mr. Swarbrook specifically emphasized that sauna is not utilized at all in our tourism service product development or in marketing.Anu found nice dresses in the local shop in Jyväskylä – I suggested them as the new uniform for guides for the coming season – but she said no. Maybe she is right. (…but they might fit for the boy guides with broad shoulders. The boys never get any new clothes.)
What did I learn: We honestly have to face the facts of the level of our professional skills and do something about the marketing, product development, sales and services. Only the best quality is worth for our clients. We need tourism in out national economy, export of services. We have to be able to be proud of Finland and our hospitality and our colleagues.
Here something in Chinese and in Finnish that I learned on my way home from work. At the metro station in Itäkeskus.
What did I learn: Sustainability is the only sensible and creative way to live.
I learned hopefully a lot more, but this is for now. Let´s blog. Ullis
New students started their adaptation to Helmi educational methods on Monday:
Anu shows here the minimum of obligatory studies for the starts.We all know that the maximum is the amount you can hold in your arms at a time. Then of course there is the universe of information, knowledge and legends. These are all we need when learning tourism. But the unit one can adopt at a time is as been described above.
Some people learn by listening and writing things down.
Did you know this good method of taking notes: allow yourself both of the empty pages of your notebook, write the ”important” issues on either one of the pages and scribble and bibble what ever comes to your mind on the other page. Then check your notes a few days later: and you will have a perfect recollection! Because you have used both sides of your hardware, the left and the right side of your brain.
In the beginning of the studies on Monday it was all serious. Who are all these people? So many different cultural backgrounds. Everybody knows much more than me. Better stay quiet today.
But then we started to learn: She is quite interesting! thinks Silvia. She is quite interesting! thinks Leena. And they don´t think of themselves anymore.
Maarit is discussing with Leydy and Diane about the Finnish language and Anna is observing.
Lucas listens to Kirsi, Sari and Rose-Mari and he knows that will learn a lot during the coming guide course. Learning becomes real life.
Chia shows her name tag for the Moodle. There is a great drama girl hiding inside her,we learned that when she was playing the waitress the next evening.
J-P is already a travel professional but he is expecting to learn a lot at school,too.
Anu and Maarit are teachers and lecturers but they keep learning a lot every day. I have to remember to ask what Maarit just learned at the time when I shot the picture. It looks interesting.
Here is beautiful Virpi, who will lecture of many important topics during the coming winter for us to learn.
Alltogether 65 students started Helmi adult tourism studies.
At the Theatre Museum on Wednesday
There are so many methods of teaching but probably only one way of learning: You only learn what you get interested in.
There are equally as many ways of guiding the visiting groups. The excellent guides in the Theatre museum knew how to brake the ice.The visitors need the story and the tools. The visitors themselves decide if this is an interesting target or not.
The best method to learn tourism is to train with your colleagues. The tourism production is using the traditions that are building the bridges between the cultures. The play (it means both playing as children and playing in the theatre) The traditions and myths tell about everything. They date back from thousands of years ago. In the museum there were theatre masks from all big cultures of the earth. Here above the western tradition from the Antiquity, ancient Greece. We were introduced first our own methods of playing different masks. Rose-Mari plays scary monster. Very good!
Silvia is playing angry demon. Very convincing.
And here comes Roberto the Lonely Rider, playing the Man who finds his own paths.
Tourism utilises also gothic horror. For your information Dr Emma McEvoy ,University of Westminster, UK is lecturing in Tampere University on 18th September ”The Devil at Berry Pomeroy: Literature, Tourism and Folklore” at 12-14, classroom Pinni B3107. More of the subject: http://www.uta.fi/ltl/plural/ilmoitus.html?id=98354. It is not a joke. A pity that the mystery of Jack the Ripper is now solved by the Finnish Jari Louhelainen.
But who is he?
This man has a message to us from the past.
The new King of the Road.
This creature is really a nice dog, who likes to perform on stage in a varieté. Maybe in Paris.
Heather is lost in a Finnish forest.
Ana Carolina is a beauty playing a delicious pastry. Her colleagues help her to dress and here she has found the Lonely Rider:
The Lonely Rider has a pink hair matching the silver in his beard.
Bo is dressed in a strawberry inspired night gown where she experiences nightmares of the worst possible tourists.
Katja plays a lady on a vacation with a secret rendevouz.
Silvia is playing an Italian lover Mario who knows a lot of visiting ladies. The ladies learn a lot from Mario.
Walid plays an Egyptian gentleman descending from the pharaos.
Liisi plays the mysterious lady from Tallinn.
”Hello, – you heard people laughing? Yes we are all learning here in the Theatre Museum and we are having a good time. Who is this please?”
”Its me. Willy. I am sure you will have great studies ahead!”
Torstaina o li ihana myrskyinen toukokuun päivä ja minä ja Manta olimme Kauppatorilla yhtä märkiä. Mantan silmälasit olivat unohtuneet kotiin, enkä minäkään nähnyt mitään. Piti tunnistaa itsensä selfiestä. Tuuli kuljetti keväistä koleaa sadetta ryöppyinä ja meri velloi. Espan puiden latvoissa purjehti kaksi isoa nippua sinisiä ja keltaisia ilmapalloja, ne tulivat Strömman bileistä. Strömma oli kutsunut tutustumaan Aava-laivaan. (Miksei Aavelaivaan?)
Tapasin laiturilla juuri valmistuneet Helmi-oppaat Raunin ja Maria Luisan. Rauni oli tulossa ja Maria Luisa menossa. Kävimme nauttimassa lasillisen roséta ja palan kakkua ja nähtiin muutamia muitakin tuttuja.
Strömma on monipuolinen:
Strömman sivuilla http://www.stromma.fi/ on tällainen määrä logoja, jotka esittelevät erilaisia palveluja:
Strömmaan kannattaa pyrkiä keikkatöihin!
Suomen Matkailijaliitto – Matkailuyhdistykset – Helsinki Expert
Tässä vähän historiaa:
Strömma on entinen Helsinki Expert, Helsingin Matkailijayhdistys ja Matkailijayhdistykset kuuluivat Suomen Matkailijaliittoon. Tässä tulee pätkä Matkailuyrittäjän Maammekirjastani (2005):
”Matkailun kehittäminen oli 1800-luvun loppupuolella aatteellista toimintaa. Suomen Matkailujayhdistys, sittemmin Matkailuliitto perustettiin vuonna 1887 samoihin aikoihin muiden Pohjoismaiden matkailuyhdistysten kanssa.
” Isänmaan tuntemus on isänmaan oikealla tavalla rakastamisen ensimmäinen ehto”, julisti poliitikko ja lehtimies August Schauman kirjoituksessaan. Matkailijaliiton perustajajäseninä oli tiedemiehiä, poliitikkoja ja muita sivistyksen merkkihenkilöitä, myös naisia kehotettiin tulemaan mukaan toimintaan. Matkailun kehittäminen kiinnosti koko silloista älymystöä, jäseniä olivat mm. Sakari Topelius, poliittiset ja sivistysvaikuttajat Yrjö-Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen ja Uno Cygnaeus, suomen kieliopin kirjoittaja E.N. Setälä, näyttelijä Ida Aalberg, kuvanveistäjä Johan Walter Runeberg, taidemaalarit Albert Edelfelt ja Eero Järnefelt ja sanomalehtimies Eero Erkko.
Kuva: Albert Edelfeltin kuvitusta Runebergin Vänrikki Stoolin tarinoihin .
”Isänmaallisuuden lisäksi terveellinen liikunta ja raittius yhdistettiin osaksi matkailun ja retkeilyn aatetta. Perustajajäseniä oli myös voimistelun ja urheilun aloilta. Matkailijayhdistyksen sääntöihin kirjattiin missio:
” tahtoo sekä maan omissa asukkaissa että ulkomaalaisissa herättää mieltymystä matkustuksiin tässä maassa ja tehdä ne helpoiksi, laajentaaksensa siten sen luonnon ja kansan tuntemista.”
Yhdistyksen käytännön tehtävänä oli”julkaista matkailuohjeita ja huolehtia kulkuyhteyksien ja majapaikkojen järjestämisestä.”
Valistustyöllä yhdistys yritti siistiä sisävesien höyrylaivoja ja painostaa laivureita pitämään kiinni ilmoittamistaan aikatauluista. Majatalojen syöpäläiset ja haisevat käymälät vaadittiin siivottavaksi.
Matkailuliito otti päävastuun Suomen matkailun kehittämisestä ja markkinoinnista koti- ja ulkomailla. Se rakennutti matkailumajoja, vaikutti teiden parantamiseen ja puuttui koskikalastukseen, jotta ryöstökalastus ei veisi kaikkia kaloja matkailijoilta. Liitto julkaisi ”matkailupropagandaa ja vieraskielistä mainoskirjallisuutta” ja järjesti matkailuosastoja ulkomailla pidettäviin näyttelyihin. ”
Suomen kulkuneuvot: Turisti
Löysin hauskan historiallisen äänitteen Suomen Kulkuneuvot eli Turisti-kirjan historiasta vuodelta 1962. Matkailijayhdistys julkaisi Turistia 2000-luvulle saakka, kunnes julkaisu siirtyi Editalle ja sitten loppui. Turisti oli matkailualan kokonaisvaltaisesti kattava tietolähde Suomesta ja vähän ulkomailtakin. Se julkaistiin kaksi kertaa vuodessa ja tässä radio-ohjelmassa Turistin toimittajana haastatellaan mm. ulkoministeri Erkki Tuomiojan äitiä, Vappu Tuomiojaa.
rakastan Hesarin kuukausiliitteen viimeisen sivun sarjakuvaa. Kaappasin pohjan tälle tehtävälle eilen tulleesta lehdestä. Leikkelin kaksi kuvaa ja keksin uudet tekstit. How about jos tekisitte samoin: (Kirjoitin HS-taiteilijoille ja pyydän lupaa käyttää tätä opetuksessa)
TEHTÄVÄ:
Leikitään opasta ja asiakasta. Kirjoita mitä nämä keskustelevat, alla on tyhjät kulpat. Minä raaapustin tällaisen:
Ja tässä tehtävä teille:
PALAUTUS MLLOIN HALUATTE!
Olisi kiva nähdä oma opastuksenne sarjakuvana blogissanne.
Myyntijohtaja Virve Kataja vastaanottaa vuosittain tuhansia risteilymatkustajia Helsingin satamiin. Virve kertoi meille Next Travelista bussikierroksellamme, tässä Nextin FB-sivut: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Next-Travel-Kokous-ja-tapahtumapalvelut/453679708071240
Ja tässä paljon uusia juttuja Travel Assistanteille ja oppaille:
This picture cought my eye on the fence that protects Kiasma´s,- the museum of contemporary art – renovation in the heart of Helsinki. I just could not leave this picture unpublished and without sharing. Maybe I will get you attention now, since this includes a kind of idea of the Helmi students opening their eyes On Tour. The Sami demonstrators had added their commentary on the poster of Finland and the human rights.
He lookd like this and you can find more info here: http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Ludvig_Engel
Then Laura Kolbe lectured of Finland´s position in the north between Eastern and Western Europe.
The modern Finland is fragmenting into several social groups and currents and one example of today´s manifests is the march of the gay movement on the Senate Square. The Academic world is in connection to the square as the University of Helsinki and the National Library stand on the western side of the Square.
Ulla-Maija Rouhiaisen ope-blogi 