Reindeer First – Why Animal Welfare Is at the Heart of Everything We Do
At Reindeer Journey, sustainability is much more than environmental responsibility. While protecting nature is important to us, animal welfare is also the issue closest to our hearts and the foundation of everything we do.
As a real-life reindeer herding family, we live and work alongside our reindeer every day. Their wellbeing is not a separate project or policy—it is part of our daily lives, our values, and our responsibility as herders.
This is one of the reasons why we have joined the Sustainable Travel Finland programme. The programme gives us an opportunity to further develop, document, and evaluate the responsible practices that have long guided our work. For us, one of the most important areas of sustainability is ensuring that tourism activities involving animals are always conducted ethically and with the animals’ welfare as the highest priority.
Developing Ethical Reindeer Tourism
We actively work to improve the training and handling of our reindeer and to ensure that all working activities involving reindeer are carried out in an ethical manner.
Our guiding principle is simple:
Reindeer first. Always.
This means that activities are organised on the reindeer’s terms, never the other way around. No customer experience is important enough to compromise the welfare, safety, or comfort of an animal.
We are fortunate that our guests appreciate this approach, even though it sometimes means that certain requests cannot be fulfilled.
For example, many visitors are surprised to learn that we never allow customers to drive our reindeer themselves. While this may be offered elsewhere, we have chosen a different approach. For the safety and wellbeing of the reindeer, sleigh driving is always handled by a trained professional who knows the individual animal and can recognise its behaviour and needs.
Similarly, not every reindeer enjoys being touched or interacting closely with visitors. Just like people, reindeer have different personalities and preferences. For this reason, we only allow petting with carefully selected animals that have been specifically trained for such encounters and that clearly tolerate and accept the interaction.
Even then, the reindeer always has a choice. If a reindeer wishes to move away or end an interaction, it is free to do so. We believe that respectful encounters should always be based on the animal’s willingness to participate, not on human expectations.
Respecting Reindeer as Living Beings
Modern tourism often focuses on creating memorable experiences. We believe the most meaningful experiences are also the most respectful ones.
Our goal is not simply to show visitors reindeer, but to help them understand these remarkable animals, their natural behaviour, and the realities of responsible reindeer husbandry in the Arctic.
Many guests tell us that learning about animal welfare, reindeer behaviour, and ethical herding practices becomes one of the most memorable parts of their visit. We see this as an important opportunity to increase awareness and encourage more responsible attitudes towards animals everywhere.
Continuing Our Sustainability Journey
Participation in the Sustainable Travel Finland programme marks the beginning of a new stage in our sustainability work. It allows us to further strengthen our commitment to responsible tourism, environmental stewardship, local cultural heritage, and above all, animal welfare.
As we continue this journey, one principle will remain unchanged:
Every decision we make starts with the question: What is best for the reindeer?
Because for us, responsible tourism begins with respecting the animals that make these experiences possible.
