Jokkmokk Guides has been operating since 1995 and is today a well-established guide company in the market with a clear focus on quality in their operations. The recently concluded winter season has further demonstrated the great interest in visiting our region. It’s not just King Winter who’s been going full steam ahead; Jokkmokk Guides has also experienced a fantastic season.
“We’ve had around 85 days of overnight tours since December first. First thirty days with four-day tours, and we’ve just finished a period of 54 days with long tours,” says Matti Holmgren, who together with Stina Svensson makes up Jokkmokk Guides.
“In terms of turnover, it has increased tremendously. After last year, we didn’t think it could increase more. We can’t run more tours, but we’ve had more full sleds and have achieved better profitability on the tours we do,” Stina adds.
“It provides very good financial returns for us,” continues Stina.
“But each year we have to turn away more and more customers – we’ve reached our capacity limit,” she continues.
What’s important for finding the right customers? What does the typical customer look like?
“Pleasant,” laughs Matti
“Most of our customers are very good to work with,” he continues.
“We’re not just trying to grow as a company, we’re also trying to grow in our work situation, and an important part of that is finding guests who are suitable for the specific tour they’ve chosen to participate in,” says Stina, who continues:
“We try to be very clear about what we’re selling, and we often have to say ‘sorry, we don’t have a product that suits you'”
“It’s extremely important when it comes to quality work – a dissatisfied customer is often one who ended up on the wrong tour. You have to be clear about what a tour entails and dare to say no if you feel it’s not quite the right tour for a particular customer. Bad reviews often stem from this,” says Matti
Quality also means working with other industries that might be affected, and you run tours in Laponia. How does the cooperation with the Sami villages in the area work?
“The cooperation and communication with the reindeer herders and affected Sami villages works incredibly well, and the added value for us is invaluable. We are incredibly grateful for the reindeer husbandry being conducted. It gives an extra dimension and soul to the area we travel through,” says Matti.
Eighty to ninety days in the field is a long time. Have you experienced any special highlights this past season?
Matti and Stina become thoughtful and fall silent for a moment, but after a short pause, Stina begins hesitantly:
“One of the highlights for me was that for the first time in several years, we could run a tour together. Usually, Matti runs the longer tours to the mountains while I run shorter tours based in Jokkmokk.”
“It became very easy for me too, since we were two people who could take care of the group,” interjects Matti, who continues:
“Another highlight was probably when we were out with twelve people – three families with children in temperatures down to minus thirty-five degrees, with five nights’ accommodation in tent huts, and everything just worked.”
“That’s one of those ‘Yes – nailed it!’ moments,” laughs Matti
“This year we could also drive into Rapa Valley,” he continues.
“We move across large areas, and conditions are of course affected by weather, wind, and snow conditions, but this year we had some fantastically beautiful days in Rapa Valley.”
It’s quite cold when the temperature drops below thirty degrees. How do guests experience the cold at such times?
“It can be a bit scary and they have respect for it. But the guests were very satisfied after the tour and no one got any frostbite,” smile Matti and Stina.
Jokkmokk Guides has lots of things in the pipeline, both for the summer and for next winter season. Read more on their website!