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  • Christa Grönlund

    Communications Manager, Finland


    Viking Line Abp PL 119 00161 Helsinki
    +358 9-123 5242
    http://www.vikingline.fi
  • Johanna Boijer-Svahnström

    Vice President Corporate Communications, Headquarters


    Viking Line Abp PL 166 22101 Maarianhamina
    +358 18-277 48
    http://www.vikingline.fi

    • Quotes

    “Gotland is fairly unknown to many Finns since it has been surprisingly difficult to get there. When we resumed our Visby cruises a few years ago, adding it to our travel programme after a pause of nearly 30 years, they were an immediate hit. Alongside families with children, adults travelling with friends in a group have also been keen on trips to Visby. Demand has been strong, and there are a large number of pre-bookings for next summer. We also believe people will buy these cruises as Christmas presents. If people want to travel on a given departure date and be sure to have a good cabin, it’s best to book their trip as soon as possible,”
    Jaakko Ahti, who is Head of Special Cruises & Cruise Concepts at Viking Line
    “People can also take their car on Viking Line’s Visby cruises and drive ashore to discover the island’s wonderful nature and attractions. You can experience many interesting things in one day.”
    Jaakko Ahti, who is Head of Special Cruises & Cruise Concepts at Viking Line
    "Demand for fragrances on our vessels has seen explosive growth generally. Sales started rising back during the COVID pandemic, and that growth has shown no signs of slowing. Finns have learnt to see fragrances as an important part of their personal style, even their wellness. We at Viking Line have responded to the increased demand by developing even more attractive fragrance departments.”
    Sara Zitting, Viking Line’s Category Manager for Beauty, Fashion & Spa
    "There are also many classic fragrances on the shelves, and their popularity is not affected by trends. Examples of these are Chanel No. 5, Dior Miss Dior and Hugo Boss Bottled. However, it is apparent in Viking Line’s tax-free shops that the perfume preferences of Finns have undergone major changes in recent years."
    Sara Zitting, Viking Line’s Category Manager for Beauty, Fashion & Spa
    "Viral fragrance trends are also clearly reflected in our sales. In particular, TikTok has a big impact. A new, significant customer group has emerged – teenage boys and young men – through the social media platform. They know exactly what they want. They are often looking for specific brands, which they’ve heard about through influencers. Right now, young men like especially strong, intense fragrances, such as Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male Elixir and Hugo Boss’s Bottled Elixir."
    Sara Zitting, Viking Line’s Category Manager for Beauty, Fashion & Spa
    “For us, developing security means continuously improving our knowledge, methods and technologies, with our skilled staff playing a key role both on the vessels and in the terminals. Improving our employees’ security awareness and preparedness is one of our most important goals – so we regularly train our entire staff in how to handle different emergency situations. We are really proud that our engaged work to improve maritime security has been recognized."
    Christian Hartvik, Viking Line’s CSO, Security Superintendent Marine Operations
    “We do everything we can so that both passengers and staff feel safe and secure on our vessels. We are happy to answer any questions about passenger safety and security at sea, especially since such questions are discussed more generally in society. Passengers often ask about fire safety and about our different inspection procedures and safety and security routines.”
    Christian Hartvik, Viking Line’s CSO, Security Superintendent Marine Operations
    “Guests come to us to enjoy a comprehensive experience: food, drink, good company and the beautifully table settings. Christmas is the highlight of the holiday season. On Christmas Eve we enjoy a traditional Christmas buffet, and on Christmas Day there is a wonderful festive buffet with even more Christmas classics and an extensive range of seafood on offer. The Christmas buffet is available from mid-November to December 26.”
    Janne Lindholm, Manager of Viking Line Restaurants
    “We get a lot of praise for keeping our Christmas buffet traditional year after year – our customers can be sure to find their favourite dish in our buffet. We offer everything from ham and meatballs to different kinds of herring. Along with Nordic food traditions, locally sourced ingredients play a big role in our Christmas buffet – this year, nearly 80 per cent of the food served is sourced locally.”
    Janne Lindholm, Manager of Viking Line Restaurants
    “Over time, the demand for vegan dishes has stabilized. This year, we’re serving among other things barbecue-glazed tofu with trimmings, grilled rutabaga with garlic cream and oat-based cheeses from the Finnish producer MÖ, which has won a number of international awards.”
    Janne Lindholm, Manager of Viking Line Restaurants
    “The recycling of cooking oil and coffee grounds is a good example of material flows based on a circular economy, which we are actively trying to create with our partners. What is essential here is that the materials are recycled together – that way, transport is more efficient and emissions  per unit collected are reduced. We at Viking Line have a long tradition of waste recycling: we started doing this on our vessels back in the 1980s in order to protect the Baltic Sea and its vulnerable archipelago environment. Today we strive to sort all waste on our vessels and recycle everything possible, from cans to textiles. We never release wastewater into the sea.”
    Dani Lindberg, Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager
    “We are really pleased that we have finally succeeded in tackling the logistical challenge of collecting coffee grounds together with our partners. It is actually the first time in the world that coffee grounds are collected in a systematic way to produce plant growth substrates. Previously, this material was mostly used as ground fill. For a 40-litre bag of soil, we use grounds from about 560 cups of coffee. One significant environmental benefit is that, as a result, we can reduce the amount of virgin peat in soil by about 30 per cent.”
    Jussi Petäjä, Home Garden Category Manager at Berner Oy
    “A big thank you to the staff in our vessel restaurants for their fantastic attitude, although this kind of project always entails a bit of extra work. On the other hand, it is certainly really worthwhile since our employees get measurable data about their environmental work and the impact this has.”
    Dani Lindberg, Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager
    “Viking Line was founded with the modest aim of improving transport connections to the Finnish mainland for Åland and its residents, so 250 million passengers is an amazing milestone for us.  Today we are a connecting link for people around the Baltic Sea, we maintain vital cargo links between the Nordic region and continental Europe, and we offer unique Nordic travel experiences for tourists who come here. This is a good opportunity to thank our customers – and naturally our staff and all our key stakeholders.”
    Jan Hanses, Viking Line’s CEO
    “Tourist interest in the Nordic countries has increased sharply since the pandemic. It also seems that a growing number of tourists – especially those travelling great distances – want to experience several Nordic countries on the same journey. Good transport links between our countries will therefore be enormously important in the future.”
    Susanne Andersson, CEO of the marketing company Visit Sweden
    “Viking Line is one of the pillars of Finnish tourism. A quarter of a billion travellers is an impressive figure, and is testimony to long-term work and successful customer experiences. Cruises on the Baltic Sea are also one of the most interesting tourist products that Finland offers foreign visitors. Our vision is to be a leading destination for sustainable tourism, and Viking Line’s efforts to promote sustainability in maritime transport reinforce this picture.”
    Kristiina Hietasaari, CEO of the marketing company Visit Finland
    “At Orkla’s companies, large volumes of food products are transported between the Nordic countries. The biogas project on this bustling route is one step in our sustainability journey. Our goal is to cut our greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 compared to 2016. Reducing our environmental impact is part of our day-to-day development work. So it was fantastic how easy it was for us as a cargo customer to make the switch to this green maritime corridor.”
    Mauri Suuronen, Planning and Logistics Manager at Orkla Suomi
    “Lowering emissions has long been a key issue for road transport, so we have focused on introducing HVO biofuel. Now that it is also possible to use biofuel in the maritime part of the transport chain, the emissions reduction is revolutionary. And the most important thing is that biofuel can be used on a large scale, and the environmental impact can be reported for each transport mode. The transport sector’s reputation is not the best on environmental issues, so it is important to show that sustainable alternatives are available.”
    Mikael Löfqvist, CEO of the transport company Scandic Trans
    “We have invested a total of 450 million euros in our climate-smart vessels. As a result, we have now successfully launched scheduled freight service using biofuel in partnership with Orkla Suomi and Scandic Trans. This is a fantastic and important demonstration of the power of cooperation on sustainability measures – this requires supply and demand, and naturally a shared willingness to take climate-smart actions. This green freight corridor has attracted enormous interest across the Nordic region, and it is only a matter of time before more companies sign up.”
    Harri Tamminen, Freight Director at Viking Line
    “Summer is the peak season for cruises, and we prepare meticulously for this. This summer, we further increased capacity on the Tallinn route. The offering on the Helsinki–Stockholm route was also bigger than last year, with Cinderella reassigned permanently to this route during the spring. There is demand for increased capacity, and despite fully booked vessels it is gratifying to know that we received very high marks for customer satisfaction this summer. All in all, the 2024 cruise summer was very successful for us.”
    Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, Viking Line’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications
    “The growing popularity of voyages to Estonia seems to be a sustained trend, but travel here has changed. Our neighbour to the south has also become a favourite destination for families with children, and people also travel with growing frequency via Tallinn to other parts of Estonia, the other Baltic countries and elsewhere in Europe.”
    Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, Viking Line’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications
    “We invested nine million euros this past spring to update Cinderella and return the vessel to sailing under the Finnish flag. Our legendary vessel has sparked enormous interest, and the cheap Swedish krona also continued to affect Sweden’s attractiveness as a destination.”
    Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, Viking Line’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications
    “We are continuously developing our operations from a sustainability perspective, and it is great that our passengers appreciate this work. As part of our sustainability work, we tell people about everything we do as well as the impact this has and also involve customers in our sustainability journey. We are also rated well in the survey for our communication on sustainability. It is clear that our communication is successful too given that, according to the survey, our customers are more demanding when it comes to corporate social responsibility and sustainable development than the average maritime traveller.”
    Dani Lindberg, Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager
    “We have carried out focused sustainability work since the 1980s and invested 450 million euros in our climate-smart vessels Viking Glory and Viking Grace. This is long-term work that leads, step by step, towards the emissions-free maritime transport of the future.”
    Dani Lindberg, Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager
    “This is an historic moment for us, the Baltic Sea and maritime transport. Scheduled service has never before been powered solely by biofuel. We have invested 450 million euros in our climate-smart vessels Viking Grace and Viking Glory, and one of their most important features is that they can run on LNG, biofuel and future synthetic fuels produced from renewable energy. Such significant environmental measures are the result of our long-term work.”
    Dani Lindberg, Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager
    “We have already operated Viking Grace using biogas on our Turku route, and passengers and cargo customers on Viking Glory and Viking Grace also already have the option to purchase biogas when they book their trip to offset the fuel used for their own travel and thus reduce the emissions for their trip by up to 90 per cent. Now, for the first time, we are operating for a whole week using only biogas, which is unique. There is still limited access to renewable fuels, and the price for such fuels is at least twice as high compared to LNG. It is important to create demand in order for supply to rise and the price to fall.”
    Dani Lindberg, Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager
    Scheduled passenger and cruise service between Helsinki and Stockholm are crucial for Helsinki’s tourism, vitality and attractiveness. The interlinkage between Helsinki and Stockholm also strengthens cultural ties between the two capitals. And many of us have travelled on work trips in both directions on Viking Line’s vessels
    Juhana Vartiainen, the mayor of Helsinki
    “Our results improved in every area of the study, and for service to Sweden our NPS (net promoter score), which measures customers’ likeliness to recommend a business, is far better than the score for the second-ranked shipping company. Meanwhile, customer expectations for travel by sea have kept on rising. Our strength is that we have managed to serve different customer groups. On our newest vessel, Viking Glory, passengers can also go to the gym and choose their favourite food in all the vessel’s different restaurants as well as at the different counters in our Market restaurant, which was inspired by the market hall concept. Above all, these fantastic results for customer satisfaction and service quality testify to the skills of our professional staff and the fact that they have managed to exceed the high expectations set for us.”
    Mikael Paulinow, Viking Line’s Manager, Customer Insight & CRM
    “We carry out continuous development work both at the company and vessel level, including under the leadership of our intendants and our vessel management teams. Today food is one of the highlights of people’s journey and is subject to many different expectations and assessments. Our customer responses also help us to update our concepts and offering. For example, we offer asparagus from Åland because our customers asked for this. They appreciate high-quality locally sourced ingredients.”
    Mikael Paulinow, Viking Line’s Manager, Customer Insight & CRM
    “During the summer months, we sell tens of thousands of spritzes on our vessels. Aperol Spritz is the most popular of all, but a strong challenger is Hugo Spritz, with elderflower cordial, and the refreshing Limoncello Spritz. One reason for the continued popularity of spritzes is that they are weak drinks – one clear trend is drinks with a low alcohol content.”
    Ossi Ruusunen, Beverages Manager on Viking Line
    “Last summer, a full 15 per cent of all cocktails we sold were non-alcoholic. For people who like spritzes, we recommend the Italian Spritz, which is made of non-alcoholic Rebels Spritz Alternative and prosecco.”
    Ossi Ruusunen, Beverages Manager on Viking Line
    “Nowadays people drink less alcohol, but they prefer better quality in their glass as well as in their shopping  cart. Today our customers are especially interested in genuine premium tequila made from 100 per cent agave. It’s the same phenomenon for gin. While the big gin boom has peaked, we’re still selling quality premium gin varieties both in our restaurants and our tax-free shops. Our prices are on average 25 per cent lower than prices on shore, and for the more expensive premium products the price difference can be bigger.”
    Ossi Ruusunen, Beverages Manager on Viking Line
    "The trend is for people to travel locally, but for a longer period. When it comes to holidays nearby, people also invest in good food and experiences. We can see this on board our vessels. For many people, a sea voyage is one part of their local travels that they really look forward to – perhaps even the highlight of their summer. For instance, Viking Cinderella, which is back in service on the Helsinki route, is attracting travellers, while many still people want to experience the new Viking Glory vessel."
    Minna Tuorila, Viking Line’s Commercial Director
    "The film Stormskärs Maja, which has been a big hit, has clearly increased interest in Åland for Finns, and many want to experience the unique landscape in the film. Golfers also travel to Åland – the seaside Slottsbanan was recently named Finland's best golf course. I'm convinced we have a busy summer ahead of us on the Mariehamn route."
    Minna Tuorila, Viking Line’s Commercial Director
    "In order to provide space for everyone who wants to sail, we will double our capacity during peak summer. We have three daily departures to Tallinn, and four on Friday. Our big cruise ships, Viking Cinderella and Viking Gabriella, will make additional sailings, alternating in service every other day on the Tallinn route."
    Minna Tuorila, Viking Line’s Commercial Director
    "We expect a record summer for our vessels on the Estonian route. Already in March, combined figures for all the company's passengers on the Helsinki-Tallinn route were 20 per cent higher than three years ago."
    Minna Tuorila, Viking Line's Commercial Director
    "Estonia is the favourite holiday destination of Finns. With the additional departures, we want to guarantee that passengers travelling to Estonia will have enough options during the busiest weeks in peak season – many passengers who take their car continue on to other Baltic countries or continental Europe via Tallinn. We also believe the recently renovated Viking Cinderella, with its varied offering of restaurants and high-quality spa facilities, will entice people to cross the Gulf of Finland."
    Minna Tuorila, Viking Line's Commercial Director
    “The introduction of biofuel is one example of our long-term climate work and long-term investments. From the very start, we made sure that Viking Glory, which was completed in 2021, and Viking Grace, which was completed in 2013, were built with the technological readiness to use biogas and synthetic fuels produced from renewable energy. There is now enough biogas being produced in the market so that we can start to use this fuel together with liquefied natural gas for these two climate-smart vessels. This is a very important phase in our more than forty-year sustainability journey.”
    Dani Lindberg, Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager
    “There’s a lot of work to be done, but our sustainability journey is already taking us towards completely fossil-free maritime transport. In the years ahead, green maritime corridors, which we are developing with our partners between Turku and Stockholm as well as between Helsinki and Tallinn, will play a major role. Going forward, strategic partnerships and providing sustainable alternatives to different customer groups will be increasingly important in our sustainability work.”
    Dani Lindberg, Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager
    "It was a positive surprise that our first beer became so popular. So we decided to develop another beer in the same vein, Viking Line Lager, which tastes just as good at the vessel's seafood buffet as on the sun deck. As our partner, we again chose the multi-award-winning microbrewery RPS Brewing, which is known for its high quality."
    Ossi Ruusunen, Beverages Manager at Viking Line
    "In purely concrete terms, the relationship is apparent from the ingredients. The aromatic hops in Viking Line IPA come from Nya Zeeland, and the Riwaka hops from the same area also give the new lager a fresh, fruity tone with a hint of grapefruit. The fresh aroma works perfectly with the crisp, malty, slightly nutty  base malt.”
    Heikki Pelkonen, product developer at Rock Paper Scissors Brewing
    "We gave Johan and Kirsi free rein. When we got the proposed menu, we tested it with the recommended wines and didn't want to change anything. It was, quite simply, a perfect match."
    Janne Lindholm, Viking Line’s Restaurant Manager
    "I developed Viking Line’s menu based on sustainably produced ingredients that I personally like. My choices were strongly driven by seasonality. This menu adds lustre to a spring cruise, offering a bit of luxury in the form of food and drinks – I really hope all of Viking Line’s passengers will enjoy it."
    Johan Kurkela, Chef of the Year 2023
    “Even before this, we were Finland’s biggest employer in maritime transport, and the reflagging of Cinderella further strengthens our position. We now directly employ about 2,200 people in Finland both on board our vessels and on land, and we also have an economic impact in different places around the country, in part through our sourcing of supplies and investments. Promoting domestic interests is important to us, and the fact that our entire fleet sails under the Finnish flag is concrete evidence of this.”
    Jan Hanses, Viking Line's CEO
    “Every vessel that starts to sail under the Finnish flag enhances the competitiveness of Finland's maritime transport industry, boosts employment in the country and strengthens national security of supply.”
    Tiina Tuurnala, CE of the Finnish Shipowners’' Association
    "We designed Viking Glory to give people an experience for all the senses: views of the archipelago virtually pour in through the large windows, out on the deck there are lovely sun terraces, the restaurants serve the best food on the Baltic Sea, and wonderful, specially made mattresses await in the cabins."
    Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Viking Line
    "Key parts of the concept for our climate-smart flagship are to offer our passengers a lot to choose from and to invest in wellness. This has met the expectations of increasingly quality-conscious and demanding customers extremely well. Finns today are prepared to invest in quality, even luxury. Glory’s popularity played an important role in our record earnings for last year."
    Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Viking Line
    “Our customers choose sea conferences above all to combine work and pleasure in a cost-effective way, keep the group together and at the same time meet people’s need for physical meetings, a need that has become stronger in recent years. With our new conference product, we can provide all this in such a way that the carbon footprint of their conference trip is small.”
    Philip Sjöstrand, Head of Sales at Viking Line
    “Emissions from a Green Sea Conference are lower because customers who have opted for such a journey travel using renewable biofuel. We have also carried out a detailed sustainability assessment of the other components that are part of a conference trip. Each year more than 19,000 group and conference events with a total of some 600,000 participants are held on our vessels. This means every choice that increases sustainability makes a big difference.”
    Marika Immonen, Head of Customer Experience at Viking Line
    “Each year, companies set increasingly ambitious sustainability goals, and it has also become more and more important to employees that their employer’s business is sustainable. By choosing a Green Sea Conference, such conference planners are pioneers and can be certain that the emissions from their conference have been minimized. As early as last summer, we started giving our leisure travellers the option of choosing biofuel.”
    Dani Lindberg, Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager
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