We love Scandinavia. By sharing our knowledge and passion for the places we enjoy so much, we want to provide travellers with unique, sustainable and authentic experiences.
Authentic Scandinavia was founded in 2007 by a small team of passionate souls who wanted to show travellers their favourite parts of Scandinavia.
"Every journey begins with a single step."
- Lao-Tzu
Our first steps
Great things often start with simple ideas. Our journey started with two motivated and passionate women. We decided that the best way to share our beloved Scandinavia with others was to create flexible travel itineraries and offer tours directly to travellers from across the world. In 2007 Authentic Scandinavia was established by the owner of Haman Group, Anette Karlsson, who asked Trude Sivertsen to build up Authentic Scandinavia from scratch.
Hard work and long nights
With only one employee at that time, there was a lot to do and learn, and the challenge was that we had limited experience offering tours online directly to the traveller. But being part of Haman Group made it all possible. Haman Group was established back in 1964 and had already welcomed thousands of travellers to Scandinavia. This meant that we had an established booking system and agreements in place with local partners. Trude spent every day and night creating unique travel packages, and with the help of her brother, a passionate programmer in his spare time, the small company soon created its first website.
We're growing
The trust and start-up capital Anette put into the project – and a strong will to succeed – was crucial for our success to come. In November 2008, after about a year of hard work and a month after we launched the website, we sold our very first tour – a trip to Hunderfossen Snowhotel in Norway. We are now proud to have welcomed thousands of travellers from all over the world to the Nordic and Baltic countries!
Our mission
Our goal when we started Authentic Scandinavia was to make it possible for people to experience our favourite parts of Scandinavia and beyond. And that is still our mission today.
We do this by offering sustainable, high-quality, flexible tours created by locals. Professional and attentive customer service is of great importance to us and we are always keen to share our knowledge and give recommendations from a local’s perspective.
Authentic Scandinavia is made up of a small team of positive individuals with different backgrounds, nationalities and skills. What we all have in common is that we are passionate travellers ourselves, and most of the tours we create are based on our personal experiences.
“At Authentic Scandinavia, we always strive to improve efficiency without compromising on quality and personal service. These are the values that guide us in our daily work.”
- Trude Sivertsen – Director
We are a small company offering professional and personal service, but we are also part of the larger Haman Group. Today, Haman Group has over 60 employees in offices in Oslo, Stockholm and Gothenburg. We benefit from shared product knowledge, a joint purchasing department and financial strength. This enables us to provide our customers with competitive prices, a high level of service and excellent travel experiences. Together we have become one of the leaders in tourism within the Nordics and Baltics.
Furthermore, Haman Group cares about sustainable travel and we are committed to making it easier for you to travel responsibly and contribute positively to the local people and places you visit during your travels.
Sustainability is at the heart of what we do and we are excited to have obtained the Travelife certificate in Sustainable Tourism for tour operators & travel agencies in 2024🌿. The award recognises the long-term efforts and frontrunner position of Authentic Scandinavia regarding sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Read more about how we support local businesses and sustainable tourism.
The name of our company, Authentic Scandinavia, was chosen to reflect our products and services. We want our travellers to experience the real Scandinavia by meeting its people and visit our favourite places.
► 2007 - A dream becomes reality
Anette has a dream. Trude works day and night to create Authentic Scandinavia.
► 2008 - The website is launched and we sell our first tour
With the help of her brother, Trude launches the website and we receive our first booking.
► 2009 - First travellers
We are so excited! Our first customers visit Lillehammer in Norway for a winter break.
► 2010 - First colleague and strengthened focus on winter season
We are growing, and Trude is joined by her first colleague, Lisa, who is still at Authentic Scandinavia today. We decide to invest in winter tourism and create many new trips to Nordic winter destinations.
► 2015 - Launch of our German-language website
We expand into a new market and launch our new German-language website.
► 2018 - Launch of our newly designed website
We launch a brand-new website with improved usability and modern design.
► 2019 - We receive Tripadvisor's Certificate of Excellence
We are proud to receive Tripadvisor's Certificate of Excellence (former name of the Traveller's Choice Award) for consistently receiving excellent reviews.
► 2020
- We work through Covid-19
Like many other businesses in the travel industry, we are affected by Covid-19. But thanks to loyal customers and hard work, we use this time to plan and prepare for the future.
- Launch of our sister company, Authentic Europe
Our sister company Authentic Europe launches its website.
- We receive Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award
We are recognised as being among the top 10% of listings on Tripadvisor, based on outstanding 2020 traveller reviews.
► 2021
- We work towards a certificate in sustainability
We start working on Travelife’s three-stage sustainability certification programme to become Travelife Certified.
- Travellers return to Scandinavia
From the summer onwards we are excited to see the return of travellers to Scandinavia.
► 2022
- Launch of our Swedish- and Danish-language websites
We welcome our first travellers from Sweden and Denmark.
- We received the Travelife Partner award.
The award is a recognition of the long-term efforts and frontrunner position of Authentic Scandinavia for its sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
► 2023
- Huge increase in bookings
We are excited to welcome back our overseas travellers and our team grows.
- Surge in winter bookings to Finland
With a rise in unique accommodation in northern Finland, we welcome many new travellers to during the winter period.
► 2024
- We obtain the Travelife Certificate for Sustainable Tourism
We are proud to have obtained the Travelife certificate for tour operators & travel agencies for our work and focus on sustainable tourism.
- We receive Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award
We are recognised as being among the top 10% of listings on Tripadvisor, based on outstanding 2024 traveller reviews.
► 2025
- We receive Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award
We are recognised as being among the top 10% of listings on Tripadvisor, based on outstanding 2025 traveller reviews.
► 2026
- We receive Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award
We are recognised as being among the top 10% listings on Tripadvisor, based on outstanding 2026 traveller reviews.
Trude is the heart and soul of Authentic Scandinavia! She has built up the company from the very beginning and made Authentic Scandinavia her "baby no. 1".
Lisa has returned for her second stint at Authentic Scandinavia - the first time being back in 2010 when it was still in its infancy. She now looks forward to sharing her knowledge of Scandinavia.
Victoria joined Authentic Scandinavia in August 2014. It is very important to her that our customers are given an unforgettable experience when choosing Scandinavia as their travel destination.
Patrick is originally from Vienna, Austria and moved to Oslo in December 2022. He loves travelling around Scandinavia and enjoys combining trips with art museums and concerts.
Nicole is from the UAE but has since lived in 6 further countries. Travelling is in her blood, and she hopes to show everyone what a beautiful part of the world Scandinavia is!
Elin is originally from Minnesota, USA – a place with a strong Scandinavian heritage. She loves Scandinavia’s distinct seasons and cinnamon buns.
Linda is originally from Bergen, Norway. She has long and varied experience in the travel industry, mostly from selling tours to all over the world, and is now happy to work with inbound tourism.
Lea is from Germany and came to Norway in 2022 for her studies. Since then, she has fallen more and more in love with the beautiful scenery and the Scandinavian way of life.
As the CEO of the Haman Group Anette’s days are not your typical 9-5 job but she very much enjoys it! Anette is the one who made the dream of Authentic Scandinavia possible.
Orijana is born in Bosnia and Herzegovina but came to Norway in 1994. She has been in charge of Authentic Scandinavia's accounts since 2011. In 2013 she became the Chief Accountant of Haman Group.
Zana was born in Lithuania and moved to Sweden in 2011 to study tourism. She joined the Haman Group in 2017 and she is responsible for all contracts with our suppliers.
