Ethical marketing guidelines

Purpose and scope

Marketing shapes what people believe about the places they visit, the communities they encounter, and the companies they trust. These guidelines set out how 50 Degrees North thinks about its responsibilities as a marketer of Nordic travel, written to be honest about where we are today, not only where we aspire to be.

They apply to all staff, freelancers, and external agencies producing content or communications on our behalf, across all channels: website, email, social media, print, trade presentations, and press. Operational and sales practices are addressed in separate policies.

We communicate externally in English, using UK English across our website and materials. We use US English only where a piece is specifically directed at North American audiences. The term guidance in these guidelines applies across both conventions.

We will publish progress against these commitments in our annual Impact Report which can be found on our Sustainable Tourism page.

Accuracy and honesty

We only say things we can substantiate. This applies to claims about our products, our sustainability credentials, our pricing, and the destinations we sell.

• We do not use superlatives we cannot support. "The best," "the only," "the most" require evidence. Where such claims appear in our copy, they must be verifiable.
• We do not use language that overstates our sustainability credentials. Being a Certified B Corporation, a Travelife Partner, and a Glasgow Declaration signatory means we are committed to improving, not that we have already solved the problem.
• We acknowledge openly that international travel contributes to the climate crisis. Flying to places like Scandinavia or Iceland has a carbon cost. We do not obscure this, and we provide carbon label data on our small group tours so that travellers can make more informed decisions.
• We do not describe a product, accommodation, or experience in a way that would not be recognised by someone who actually experienced it.
• We correct errors promptly when they are identified, in copy, in imagery captions, and in facts cited about destinations.
• We do not stay quiet about what we have genuinely achieved. Our sustainability claims are grounded in evidence, transparent in their scope, and not manipulated to appear more significant than they are. Communicating real progress honestly is part of what transparency requires.
• We avoid terms such as 'carbon neutral,' 'net zero,' and 'climate positive' as descriptors for our holidays or our business overall. These claims face regulatory challenge across our key source markets and cannot currently be substantiated by any international travel operator. Where we use carbon labels on specific tours, we show the actual emissions figure and make no neutrality claim.

Transparency about what we are

We are a specialist Nordic tour operator and travel specialist, not an independent local guide or a charity. We are a commercial business, and we are honest about that.

• We do not imply that all of our destination specialists are Nordic-born. Many are; some are specialists who have lived and worked in the region. Both are genuine; neither should be misrepresented as the other.
• We do not apply "small group" framing without context. Our small group tours are capped at 18 travellers. While there is no single industry standard, the term most commonly implies groups of 12 to 16 in the adventure and cultural touring sector. We use the label honestly and provide the specific cap on all product pages.
• We do not apply carbon labels to tours where the data has not been properly calculated. The label is meaningful only if it is accurate.

Respectful representation of place and people

The Nordic region is not a backdrop. Its landscapes, communities, cultures, and histories belong to the people who live there, and our marketing should reflect that.

• We do not present destinations as empty, timeless wildernesses inhabited only by photogenic weather. People live in these places. We acknowledge that.
• We give image credit correctly and consistently. Photographers and rights holders are named.
• We tell stories about destinations through specific, named places and real detail, not through generic adjectives. "Hardangerfjord in April" is more honest than "dramatic fjord scenery."

Inclusive representation in our marketing

Our travellers are predominantly older, often travelling as a couple or independently, and come largely from Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Canada. Our marketing should reflect that reality honestly.

• We seek imagery that represents the actual age range of our travellers, including older adults engaging fully with experiences, not only as passive observers. This is reflected in our gallery imagery, and we are working towards consistent application across all site imagery.
• We recognise that access and mobility matter to many of our travellers. We do not imply that all experiences require a high degree of physical fitness unless that is genuinely the case.
• We do not use language that assumes a traveller's household composition, financial circumstances, or reasons for travel. Not every traveller is part of a couple, planning a honeymoon, or retired.
• We do not market to fear or inadequacy. Our copy does not imply that a traveller needs our products to have a worthwhile experience, only that we can help them have a better one.

Ethical digital marketing

We market honestly and in compliance with data privacy law across all digital channels.

• We comply with the Australian Privacy Act, CPPA (Canada), and CCPA (United States) as applicable. We do not use personal data beyond the purposes for which it was collected.
• We do not purchase links or engage in practices that violate Google's webmaster guidelines.
• We do not run paid advertising alongside content that promotes misinformation, hatred, or content that conflicts with our values.
• We are working towards WCAG AA accessibility standards. Recent steps include updating our colour palette to meet minimum contrast ratios. An upcoming priority is auditing all images for descriptive alt text.
• We do not use urgency or scarcity tactics that are artificial. "Hurry, only 2 seats remaining" is only used if it is true.

Sámi culture: principles for responsible representation

The Sámi are the only indigenous people of the European Union. Their homeland, Sápmi, spans the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. 50 Degrees North operates itineraries throughout this region and includes a number of Sámi-owned and Sámi-led experiences in our product range. This requires specific care that goes beyond our general marketing principles.

On language

• We distinguish between Lapland as a geographical region and Sámi as an indigenous culture. "Lappish" is an acceptable descriptor for general experiences in Lapland that are not presented as Sámi in character, for example food traditions or landscapes associated with the region more broadly. It should not be used as a synonym for, or substitute for, Sámi culture.
• We do not describe Sámi culture as "ancient," "unchanged," or "vanishing." These framings reduce a living culture to a relic. The Sámi have adapted, maintained, and continued. Their culture is present-tense.
• We try to avoid phrases like "live like a Sámi" or similar constructions that suggest a traveller can temporarily inhabit another culture. We describe what an experience actually involves.
• We recognise that the Sámi are not a single, uniform group. There are multiple distinct Sámi peoples across Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, with different languages, territories, and traditions. Where possible and accurate, we name the specific context: the community, region, or operator involved.
• We avoid words such as "magical," "mystical," and "mythical" in relation to Sámi culture. Beyond our general preference for grounded language, these terms specifically exoticise the Sámi, presenting a living people as something otherworldly rather than as a contemporary culture.

On imagery

• We use images of Sámi people and cultural practices only where those images have been taken with the subject's knowledge and consent.
• We do not photograph, or include images of, sacred objects, ceremonies, or practices that our Sámi partners have indicated are not for public use.

On husky safaris

Husky safaris are not a Sámi tradition. Dog sledding was introduced to Lapland's tourism industry in the 1980s and has no historical basis in Sámi culture. The Ethical Guidelines for Sámi Tourism, adopted by the Sámi Parliament of Finland, cite its conflict with reindeer herding as a concern, given that reindeer herding is central to Sámi life and livelihood.

50 Degrees North includes husky safaris in a number of itineraries. We do not present this as unproblematic, and we do not pretend the tension does not exist. Innovation Norway is currently developing an updated Sámi tourism Code of Conduct in collaboration with Sámi stakeholders and the wider tourism industry, and we are following that process closely.

What we will not do is describe or imply that a husky safari is a Sámi experience or tradition. The same applies to glass igloo hotels, which are similarly borrowed rather than indigenous to Sápmi.

On how experiences are framed

• We describe an activity as a Sámi experience only where it is offered by a Sámi-owned, Sámi-led, or Sámi-partnered operator. Where an activity takes place in Lapland but does not meet this threshold, we describe it as a Lappish experience rather than a Sámi one.
• We write about Sápmi as a place where people live, not as a backdrop for the traveller's experience. Copy should reflect that the traveller is a guest, not the protagonist.
• Where we write about Sámi Homeland, we do not describe it as untouched or empty wilderness. The land has been used, named and cared for by the Sámi for generations, often without leaving visible trace. What appears to a visitor as wilderness is, in practice, a lived-in and working landscape. In Finland, the Sámi Homeland has a legal definition: the municipalities of Enontekiö, Inari and Utsjoki in full, plus the northern part of Sodankylä around Vuotso. In Sweden and Norway there is no single statutory boundary, but Sápmi extends across much of the north, marked by Sámi settlement, language areas and reindeer herding. We are reviewing our copy across these areas to correct wilderness framing where it misrepresents the landscape.
• Where reindeer appear in our itineraries, we recognise that freely roaming reindeer are privately owned, not wild. We reflect this in how we describe reindeer encounters, and we brief our tour leaders accordingly.

Use of artificial intelligence in content production

We use AI tools to support content production across our marketing and communications. This includes drafting, editing, research assistance, and translation support.

All content produced with AI assistance is reviewed, edited, and approved by a human editor before publication. Factual accuracy, tone, and alignment with these guidelines remain the responsibility of the person publishing the content.

AI tools do not replace editorial judgement. They are particularly limited in contexts that require cultural sensitivity, local knowledge, or nuanced representation of place and people, which are central to how 50 Degrees North writes about the Nordic region and its communities. In these areas, human oversight is not optional.

Feedback

If you believe we are not meeting the commitments in this document, we want to know. Please contact us at marketing@fiftydegreesnorth.com.

Appendix: terms we use and terms we avoid

This is a quick reference. The reasoning behind each entry sits in the section noted, and the Sámi terms are covered in full there rather than repeated here.

Words and phrases we avoid

• “Carbon neutral,” “net zero,” “climate positive” as descriptors for our holidays or business. See Accuracy and honesty.
• Unsupported superlatives: “the best,” “the only,” “the most,” unless verifiable. This applies to descriptive claims, not to established product names such as Best of Norway. See Accuracy and honesty.
• Inflated descriptors that promise a feeling rather than describe a place: “magical,” “breathtaking,” “stunning,” “majestic,” “of a lifetime,” “once-in-a-lifetime,” “living map.” Some of these still appear in our older copy. We are working to replace them as we review and update content.
• “Foster,” “bolster,” “harness,” “delve,” and similar terms that read as generic or machine-generated.
• “Magical,” “mystical,” “mythical” in relation to Sámi culture, which additionally exoticise a living people. See Sámi culture.
• “Ancient,” “unchanged,” “vanishing” in relation to Sámi culture. See Sámi culture.
• “Lappish” as a synonym for Sámi. See Sámi culture.
• “Live like a Sámi” and similar constructions. See Sámi culture.
  
  

Words and phrases we prefer

• “Travel advisors,” not “travel agents.”
• Concrete, checkable detail over generic adjectives, so a claim describes something a traveller would recognise.
• Carbon labels showing the actual emissions figure, with no neutrality claim attached. See Accuracy and honesty.
• “Lappish experience” for a Lapland activity that does not meet the Sámi-owned, led, or partnered threshold. See Sámi culture.
• Honest qualifiers where a claim has limits, rather than a tidier but inaccurate absolute.

This list is maintained as language shifts and as new markers of generic copy emerge.