Media Partnerships with 50 Degrees North
50 Degrees North is a fully licensed boutique tour operator and travel curator specialising in travel across the Nordic region and Baltic States, including Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Svalbard, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The company is known for deep local expertise, carefully designed itineraries and highly personalised service.
Founded in 2010, 50 Degrees North has grown to include offices in Øyer (Norway, near Lillehammer), Melbourne (Australia), Minneapolis (USA) and Vancouver (Canada). In recognition of the company's contribution to promoting Norway as a travel destination, co-founder Tietse Stelma was appointed Norway's Consul-General in Melbourne in 2018. As a Certified B Corporation and Travelife Partner, responsible tourism is central to how the company operates.
Main email: marketing@fiftydegreesnorth.com
Story ideas
Nordic region: off the beaten track
For writers seeking narrative-driven stories that spotlight local voices, seasonal rhythms and Nordic escapes away from the well-known routes.
Into the wild: brown bears of eastern Finland
Deep in the taiga forests of Kuhmo, spend a night in a secluded wildlife hide and witness brown bears in their natural habitat. This experience blends conservation, quiet observation and the thrill of the wild, and is well suited to nature and wildlife photography angles.
Greenland unplugged: slow travel in Nuuk
Nuuk is emerging as the Arctic's quiet capital, a city undergoing a cultural renaissance while remaining far removed from mass tourism. Explore its museums and contemporary art scene, hike untouched landscapes, and follow the rhythm of Greenlandic life across five days.
Norway by rail: a journey through local knowledge
A seven-day premium rail journey through Norway's lesser-known villages and dramatic landscapes. Ride historic trains, cycle Trollstigen on e-bikes, and meet the people whose stories give these places meaning. Slow travel with a strong sustainability angle.
Farm to fjord: a culinary journey under the midnight sun
From Senja to Lofoten, follow a culinary trail through the long summer days of northern Norway. Meet local producers, dine fjord-side, and explore the region through food, landscape and storytelling.
The Faroe Islands: Nordic solitude in the Atlantic
Remote, rugged and shaped by centuries of isolation, the Faroe Islands offer windswept cliffs, turf-roofed villages and a culture that rewards slow attention. Hike to hidden waterfalls, explore Faroese food traditions, and find a place where nature still sets the pace.
50 Degrees North History
50 Degrees North began in 2010 in the front room of a home in Clifton Hill, Melbourne. Tietse Stelma, a Norwegian living in Australia, and his co-founder Jayde Kincaid had both worked in travel long enough to see how often the Nordic region was simplified, packaged and misrepresented. They left their careers to try something different.
The first itineraries were built by hand, drawn from personal networks across Norway that had taken years to develop. Nothing was templated. The company's first employees joined in 2011, and by 2012 the business had moved into its first dedicated office in West Melbourne, small but growing.
The next milestone came in 2015, when a second office opened in Øyer, a small town near Lillehammer in Norway. It was a natural step: a company built on local knowledge needed to be rooted in the region it was selling. Two years later, a third office followed in Vancouver, and the company's reach into North America began in earnest.
By 2019, with the team expanding across three continents, the company paused to restructure around its people and culture. In 2020, with approximately 50 staff, the global pandemic brought travel to a standstill. Like every operator in the industry, 50 Degrees North stopped. Unlike many, it came through, holding together the relationships with partners, clients and team members it had spent a decade building.
The recovery was purposeful. In 2021, the company signed the Glasgow Declaration, committing formally to climate action. In 2022, a fourth office opened in Minneapolis, a new Climate Action Plan was released, carbon labels were introduced on tours, and Travelife Partner certification was received. In 2023, B Corp certification followed, along with a move to larger office space in Melbourne. In 2024, a new CEO was appointed and the Impact Fund was established.
In 2025, Tietse and Jayde stepped back from day-to-day operations, passing the company to the leadership team they had built over fifteen years. Equip Capital joined as majority shareholder, and 50 Degrees North became part of the newly established North Travel Group, alongside sister company Nordic Tours AS.
In 2026, the company launched its Classic range, a collection of 20 Nordic itineraries sitting alongside the existing Original, Premium and Luxury/Bespoke ranges. Classic was the answer to a question the company had been sitting with for some time: how do you open up what you do to more people without changing the way you do it? The design principles stay the same. The local partnerships stay the same. The 24-hour support stays the same. What changes is the accommodation, centred on comfortable, well-located three-star properties rather than the boutique and atmospheric stays that characterise the other ranges.
Today, the company continues under the same management and the same design philosophy that has defined it from the beginning, with 80+ staff across three continents.
Press trip guidelines
When considering press trip requests, we ask writers to provide the following:
- Publication history: A list of publications that have recently and regularly featured your work.
- Writing samples: Links to recent articles that reflect your style and focus, ideally related to travel or Nordic destinations.
- Coverage commitment: Details of what you can confirm in return for a complimentary tour, including confirmed commissions, expected reach and platforms (print, online, social media).
- Story angles: A brief overview of the topics or angles you are considering in relation to a destination or itinerary.
For first-time collaborations, we typically require at least one or two confirmed commissions in nationally or globally recognised publications, with a strong likelihood of additional coverage. Preference is given to stories appearing in both print and online, supported by social media coverage during and after the trip.
If you have a strong working relationship with a high-profile publication or expect to confirm commissions prior to travel, we encourage you to get in touch. We are happy to begin planning together, subject to destination, availability and expected costs.
In the media
See a curated selection of press articles featuring travel experiences with 50 Degrees North.
News and inspiration
Travel stories and destination insights from our Nordic specialists are published on our news page.
Social media handles
https://www.facebook.com/50degreesnorth
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Media enquiries
marketing@fiftydegreesnorth.com