Media and 50DN

50 Degrees North is a niche, independently owned and fully licensed tour operator specialising in the regions above the 50th parallel north, including Scandinavia, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, the Arctic and the Baltics. 50 Degrees North is recognized for its local expertise, the originality of their programs and detailed, personalised operation. The company was founded in 2010 and has offices in Lillehammer, Melbourne, Minneapolis and Vancouver. Co-founder and CEO, Tietse Stelma, was appointed Norway’s Consul-General in Melbourne in 2018, in honor of the company's dedication and contribution to the destination.

50 Degrees North's vision is to be top-of-mind for operating innovative, authentic and responsible travel experiences above the 50th parallel north.

Contact us

Main email: info@fiftydegreesnorth.com
Marketing Manager: jk@fiftydegreesnorth.com

Story Ideas:

SCANDINAVIA - OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

• Explore Norway’s magnificent and less known areas (e.g. the Western fjords)
• Visit the remote Siglufjörður peninsula in north Iceland
• Discover the Kingdom of Crystal in south central Sweden
• Spend a summer's day in Skagen, where the Scandinavian romantic painters used to lose themselves
• View brown bears in the deep forests of eastern Finland
• See the puffins return on the same date (14th April) every single year at Lovund on the central Norwegian coast
• Discover the peaceful and remote Faroe Islands perched in the middle of the North Atlantic

See more at our IMM page, Special Interest Tours

Hiker in Norway

50 Degrees North History:

The story of 50 Degrees North starts in 2010 when Tietse Stelma and Jayde Kincaid decided to leave their roles at Peregrine Adventures and The Outdoor Education Group respectively, to start 50 Degrees North. The business started off in Jayde & Tietse’s front room in Clifton Hill, which was the official business address for the first 18 months of business.

In March 2012, 50 Degrees North moved into offices at Suite 203, 7 Jeffcott Street, West Melbourne with 2 employees + Jayde & Tietse. Since then, 50 Degrees North has grown steadily, while increasing its number of employees in Melbourne.

In January 2015, we opened the office in a small town near Lillehammer, Norway with Satu taking on the Managing Director role for the Norwegian business. We have now grown into a financially stable and mid-size company now employing 40+ staff in our offices in Melbourne, Lillehammer (Øyer) and our latest addition: Vancouver and Minneapolis.

Press trip guidelines

When considering requests for Press Trips, we generally need to know the following:

  1. Which specific publications have (frequently and recently) published your articles / writing?
  2. Links to some recent and relevant published articles
  3. What are you able to guarantee in return for receiving a free tour?
  4. What topics / story angles are you considering in regards to a tour?

We usually need a minimum of 1-2 confirmed commissions in a nationally / globally well-known publications and the likelihood for more in order to go ahead with a press trip for a new travel writer (meaning it is their first time travelling with us). Ideally, stories will appear both in print and online with additional coverage through social media (both during the trip and after the articles have been published). If it's likely that commissions can be confirmed prior to travel, do get in touch with us and we can start planning together (depending of course on destination, availability, and expected cost).

In the Media

Read more about travelling with 50 Degrees North in the following selection of example articles:

2023 Luxury Travel Magazine

Tatyana Leonov: Iceland Hot springs

2023 Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper

Rob McFarland : Hiking in Norway - Beautiful Norway Hike

2023 The Traveller, Sydney Morning Herald

Tatyana Leonov: Greenland - North to Adventure

2022 The Points Guy

Stefanie Waldek: Beyond Bergen: Where to travel along Norway's coast

2022 Out & About with Kids

Aleney De Winter: On native land on raising thoughtful and considerate travellers visiting Sámi homelands.
Out and about with Kids

2020 Out & About with Kids

Elisa Elwin: Fun family holiday in Finland

Fun family holiday in Finland - Out & About with Kids

Elisa Elwin: Lapland Winter Wonderland

Elisa Elwin: Lapland Winter Wonderland

2020 Financial Review

Barry Stone: UNDER restaurant in Norway is in another league under the sea

Barry Stone: UNDER restaurant in Norway is in another league under the sea

2019 Traveller (The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age)

Tatyana Leonov: Finland: A white night in a glass igloo within the Arctic Circle

A white night in a glass igloo

Tatyana Leonov: eSled tour, Finland: Riding the world's first electric snowmobile

eSled tour, Finland

Tatyana Leonov: Enjoying the delights of foraged food in Harriniva, Finland

Enjoying the delights of foraged food in Harriniva

2019 Traveller (The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age)

Mark Daffey: Icy vistas from a cosy cabin in this Arctic Circle archipelago here.
Screen Shot 2019-06-05 at 11.10.03 am

2019 Toque & Canoe

Margo Pfeiff: Meet Norway's Bathing Angels here.

Screen Shot 2019-04-11 at 9.46.46 am

2018 Signature Luxury Travel and Style

Read Barry Stone: 'Design and Nature in Norway' here.
Screen Shot 2018-05-10 at 9.21.29 am

Vacations and Travel and DestinAsia Magazine

The following articles on Kamchatka by Barry Stone:
Eastern Promise, in Vacations and Travel and Russia's Last Frontier, in DestinAsia Magazine

Eastern Promise Barry Stone

Kamchatka Barry Stone

Signature Magazine
Cruising in Greenland by Barry Stone

Greenland Cruising

Signature Magazine
Self Driving in Iceland by Barry Stone

Ring of Iceland

Cruise Passenger
Cruising in Sweden between Stockholm and Gothenburg on the Gota Canal by Barry Stone

A slow boat to Stockholm

Holiday with Kids Magazine
Santa's secret hideway in Finland by Mark Duffey

Santa's Secret Hideaway

PAX Magazine, Canadian Travel Trade News

PAX Magazine February 2018

Sample Press Releases from 50 Degrees North

2020

Register now for the final 2020 Nordic webinars by 50 Degrees North

50 Degrees North wins 'Norway's Leading Tour Operator 2020' at the World Travel Awards

50 Degrees North celebrates 10 years of operations with exciting developments

Post-coronavirus travel: Experience the ultimate winter tour in Sweden with 50 Degrees North

50 Degrees North set their sights to Nordic winter with a new escorted winter tour for 2020-21

50 Degrees North introduces a new Christmas tour for 2020 to meet growing demand

2019

New brochure out for 50 Degrees North’s new brand NORD Journeys

50 Degrees North launches a new independent small group tour for 2020 – Discover unforgettable experiences in the Nordic summer with ‘Scenic Norway’

50 Degrees North is hiring!

50 Degrees North responds to Bentours collapse by launching a new travel brand, NORD Journeys

50 Degrees North sponsors Keiino’s Australian tour this Oct-Nov

New Escorted Norway Tour

Unique, authentic, and sustainable: 50 Degrees North introduces two new escorted small
group tours to enchanting Greenland for summer 2020, led by Greenland travel expert Lykke Geisler Yakaboylu

Meeting of the Norwegians: 50 Degrees North CEO meets with Hurtigruten CEO to further solidify the two companies’ partnership in Australian and New Zealand markets

Lapland Circle independent small group tour

Escorted Tours Guarantee

2018

50DN Early Bird Discounts Hurtigruten 2019

Hurtigruten, a leader in sustainable cruise travel, partners up with 50 Degrees North and their innovations are transforming travel as we know it!

New Tour Western Fjords 2019

Virtuoso Award 2018 for 50 Degrees North

New Hotels in Scandinavia 2018

New tour Beautiful Norway

2017

Escorted Photography tour with David Evans and Hurtigruten

50DN-Christmas-tours-explained

50 Degrees North opens Vancouver office - US Edition

Media Release: New Glass Igloo Tour

Hurtigruten Escorted Photography tour - last spots available

Image Banks

Find the links here to free and professional tourist board sponsored image banks

We have a small collection of 50 Degrees North images (mostly of our hotels and small group tours). Please ask us for access to the dropbox.

For professional images, we would recommend accessing the image banks of our partners, the tourist boards of our region. These can be accessed with a password and are easy to use. Most of the time, the password is provided immediately. If you are looking for something more specific, please don’t hesitate to ask.

50 Degrees North News / Inspiration Page

Find out more about what we are up to on our news page.

Social Media handles

https://www.facebook.com/50degreesnorth
https://www.instagram.com/50degreesnorth/
Hashtag 50DegreesN
Hashtag 50degreesnorth
https://twitter.com/50degreesN

Contact us

info@fiftydegreesnorth.com