A message from Finland

Okay, to kickstart the global spirit the PhoCusWright Bloggers' Summit is aiming for at ITB this week, we have a guest post from Finland:

It would be easy to imagine that the Finnish tourism industry would be one of the forerunners in the internet and rest of the online world. Yes, it would indeed!

Let me tell you a secret: we Finns are at least three years behind most of Europe and about a decade behind the continent behind the big water.

But in my post I am introducing you to two of the best Finnish, cutting edge travel websites.

Last December the tech and travel community here in Finland went bananas. We read in your Guardian newspaper that the Finnish Dopprl could even be the next Facebook!

Our Dopprl in your Guardian!

But, wait a second, the article said nothing about Finland...

Didn't they realise that it is of Finnish origin? One of its masterminds, Marko, is the son of our former president Martti Ahtisaari, and our own Taneli Tikka is nowadays the biggest boss in the company!

For those who don't know, this wonderful site is for frequent business travellers. Here in Finland it seems to be on everybody's lips and even Travolution has talked about it a fair bit.

The other site I thought to introduce I am quite sure you have not heard of before. The name of the service is Vailoma.

Remember, it's me you heard about it first. These guys are really going for it. This means they are either heading for big success or terrible loss.

The site is packed with interesting features, which are mainly copied from other websites from other industries like the Amazon-style recommendation, but who cares if their site works and makes people happy?

I personally like especially their destination widget that brings their website to other websites.

The site is currently in beta version, but if you want an invitation to Vailoma please contact me. I would definitely recommend you to check it out!

And that is all from Finland this time. I will continue with Northern Exposures if Kevin allows me to!

Ilkka Kauppinen

Ilkka Kauppinen is one of the leading Finnish internet marketing professionals and scholars in tourism. His blog, which discusses internet marketing in tourism, is one the biggest Finnish online travel blogs. It is, after all, also the only one.