Study Tour Around Central Finland – For Tourism Management Students
First-year Tourism Management students had a Study Tour Day on the 14th of November. The morning started in Jamk’s Rajakatu campus where we got on a bus. Inside the bus, a tour guide was waiting for us. The bus started to drive towards Jyväskylä city centre. We drove past an old cemetery. Our tour guide told us that the old cemetery is one of the most popular guided tour spots during summertime. We also drove past a Boutique Hotel Yöpuu, the only boutique accommodation in Jyväskylä.
Our tour took us to the old town and University campuses. And of course, we visited buildings that world-famous architect Alvar Aalto had designed. We learned a lot about the history of the old buildings around Jyväskylä city centre. Our guided tour ended in the Lutakko harbour where we visited the congress and event centre Paviljonki.
Spa Hotel Peurunka
From there we drove to Laukaa and visited the spa hotel Peurunka. It is located by a lake of the same name. Peurunka offers its guests’ spa and aqua park facilities and a lot of opportunities for different activities for individuals and groups. The place also offers rehabilitation services and is one of the leading rehabilitation service providers in Finland. Peurunka has many restaurants starting from bistros to fine dining, where customers can enjoy both Finnish and international cuisine.
At Peurunka we were greeted by staff and were given a presentation in one of the conference rooms about the place and its services. The presentation attracted a lot of interest from the students, and they had questions, especially about the number of tourists and where they come from. The staff also told us about the variety of internship opportunities Peurunka has to offer to Tourism Management students. After the presentation, we received a tour of a place. We also used the food services offered by Peurunka for lunch.
Next Stop Varjola resort
From Peurunka we continued our tour to Varjola resort where we were greeted by the owner Markus Kallio. Varjola is a family-owned resort in the countryside of Central Finland. Varjola is located in Laukaa and it is only 30 minutes from Jyväskylä city central. Varjola specializes in traditional Finnish cuisine and sauna experience. The place offers a lot of activities in pure Finnish nature, including rafting, fishing and during wintertime snowmobile safaris. Accommodations are located near the services but in the middle of nature.
At the beginning of our visit, we were given a presentation about the place and its history. After that, we got to look around the property. We visited an old barn that has been converted into a restaurant. We also visited the old main building that summertime has a bistro-style restaurant.
”The family run business [Varjola] was a nice place to visit and see”
”It was a really nice experience, I hope we can have more field trips in the future.”
“It was interesting to see two places that differentiated from each other. The day went by fast
Students participating in the Central Finland Study Tour
Tiina-Riitta Härsilä is a 3rd year Service Business student who is doing her practical training as a Tourism Management Team Assistant. As a part of her practical training, she got to visit a lot of cool places.