Management
50 Degrees North is a specialist travel company that aims to give you a little more than just a holiday. We specialise regionally, as we believe it is not possible to be good at everything. We also focus on offering the most enriching style of travel. Not necessarily cheap, but rewarding, full of real life experiences and with incredible value for money. Our knowledge and expertise will allow you to get deep under the skin of the northern region, and take home with you learning and understanding that others will miss.
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Our Director & Co-Founder, Tietse Stelma, is Norwegian and was born far north of the Arctic Circle in a Sami village called Karasjok. He grew up in Hvaler in the outer Oslo fjord and is has the last 7 years been living and working in Melbourne, Australia. Tietse joined the travel industry in the early 90’s in Norway working with off the beaten track travel, as well as specialist tours to China. In the late 90's lead tours in North Asia, and later established the China and Mongolia product for a major adventure tour operator in Australia. From 2005 to 2010 he headed up the global operations team for a second major tour operator to ensure high class product delivery. With 20 years in the industry, Tietse has spent years exploring the extraordinary northern region and know the northern region better than most. Tietse is also the sitting President of the Norwegian club of Victoria (Friends of Norway), speaks fluent Norwegian and Dutch, and has over the years built an extensive network of operators and suppliers in the northern region. |
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Leila Myllymäki-Hay is our Sales & Business Development Manager. Leila grew up on a farm by a lake in the middle of pine forest in Finland. She started her career in travel and tourism in 1980s while studying at Helsinki University. She went on to work in hotels, restaurants, local visitor information centres and travel agencies in Scandinavia and Australia. Leila has also co-ordinated various events ranging from gala dinners to tennis tournaments and from Icebreaker cruises to 2-day festivals. Before moving to Australia Leila worked as a Sales and Product Manager in one of Scandinavians largest Destination Management Companies - custom made special interest and incentive tours are her passion! Leila is also very passionate about Finnish design and architecture. To pursue her love of great design, she has been running her own Scandinavian design shop for the last ten years. Leila speaks fluent Finnish and German. |
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| Jayde Kincaid is our Marketing Manager and Co-Founder and has been a tour leader in China, Europe and North Asia. Early in life Jayde learnt Japanese and has a strong affection for Japan. She was a rafting guide in the mid 90's safely guiding adventurous customers down the Mitta Mitta and Thomson rivers in Victoria. The past 15 years Jayde has spent in the Outdoor Education industry in Australia, working for a major Outdoor Education Group. She has used her skill in education, training and development to establish 50 Degrees North’s programs to be rewarding and of a superior quality. |
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Our General Manager, Esbjörn Torstensson, is Swedish and was born in the beautiful harbour town of Helsingborg, Sweden. "I grew up in a small house next to a big forest and have fond memories of long warm summer nights and snowy winters. I identify myself as a Skåning. Skåne is a unique part of Sweden in both accent, attitude and landscape. My family hails from all over Sweden and I know my home country, and the region, well. As soon as I was old enough to pay my own bills, I started travelling around the world, which eventually lead me to combine my passion with my profession. Migrating to Australia in 1998 started off my career in the travel industry. I spent 4 years with STA Travel in Australia and Scotland and eventually sought out adventure travel at Intrepid Travel, where I worked behind the scenes with travel agents, travellers, leaders and other operators, before managing Intrepid's first ever concept store in Melbourne, Australia for a number of years. |
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