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Tuomas Hietala
Tuomas Hietala

Tourism developer · Founder of Guidara

I help tourism and service businesses run the day-to-day, develop their services and put AI to practical use.

I bring more than 20 years of experience in international tourism and service businesses. My background includes travel between Finland and Switzerland and leading accommodation operations in Lapland.

Let's discuss your needs Explore my services

Luosto, Heart of Lapland.

Focused development projects, fractional operations support and advisory work. In Finnish and English.

Experience at a glance

20+ years
in tourism and service businesses
Approx. 70 properties
Up to approximately 70 accommodation properties
500 beds
The number of beds managed at the same time, at best

These figures describe the scale of responsibilities held during my career.

When operations need to work in practice.

I help when plans need to be turned into responsibilities, ways of working and execution.

  1. 1

    You're preparing for a new season or opening a property.

    Together we plan the work of your staff and partners, the property preparations and guest communication. We agree on responsibilities and schedules before the first guests arrive.

  2. 2

    You want clarity in day-to-day management.

    I clarify responsibilities, work instructions and quality monitoring. Your team knows what needs to be done, who is responsible for what and how success is evaluated.

  3. 3

    You want to turn an AI idea into a practical pilot.

    I draw on the experience gained while developing Guidara for your business needs. We choose one use case, build a limited pilot and evaluate it in terms of time spent, quality and usability.

Services

How I can help your business.

01

Tourism operations management

I help accommodation and tourism businesses run daily operations, prepare for the season and make service quality consistent.

Example deliverable

A current-state overview, a prioritised action plan and agreed responsibilities and ways of working.

What the work covers

  • Responsibilities, resources and practical division of work.
  • Coordinating staff and service providers.
  • Property readiness and quality assurance.
  • Operating guidelines, checklists and guest communication.
  • Agreed operational management responsibility.
02

Practical AI workflows

I help identify the tasks where AI is worth trying and design a focused solution that can be evaluated.

Example deliverable

A defined use case, a prototype or workflow model, and a plan for evaluating the pilot.

What the work covers

  • Mapping recurring information and document tasks.
  • Concepting AI-assisted workflows and services.
  • Guidelines, content structures and prototypes.
  • Pilot goals and evaluation method.
  • A rollout plan to an agreed scope.
03

Service development and partnerships

I help structure a new service, its commercial model and partner network so that execution has a clear path forward.

Example deliverable

A service description, a draft commercial model, a partnership plan and next steps for delivery.

What the work covers

  • Clarifying customer needs and the service concept.
  • Designing pricing and the commercial model.
  • Developing local and international partnerships.
  • Planning collaboration with service providers and delivery.
  • Launching a new service or operating model.

AI-assisted first suggestion

Where should you start?

Describe your business challenge in a few sentences. You'll get a suggested service and practical first steps.

This suggestion is AI-generated and indicative. Your text is not stored. Actual scope is always agreed together.

Experience

Experience in international tourism, operations and service development.

Alpland GmbH · 2017–2025

International travel between Finland and Switzerland

I developed and delivered small-group, active and incentive trips between Finland and Switzerland. My work covered sales, partnerships, client communication and coordinating local delivery.

Combining commercial planning with local delivery.

Operational experience · Lapland

Accommodation operations management

I have led the daily delivery of accommodation operations, coordinated staff and service providers, and been responsible for property readiness, service quality and guest service practices.

Managing the whole, from guest arrival to the division of work among service providers.

Own development project · 2026–

In development

Kompas by Guidara

I am developing an AI-assisted tool that supports a person when a life situation becomes confusing and help has to be found quickly. Kompas separates what is already known from what still needs to be checked, and helps turn an unclear need into one concrete step. The work covers the service structure, content, document workflows and the commercial model.

Kompas is a personal project for me. I have come through a long and demanding road in developing this tool.

Try the demo

The demo does not replace a professional assessment. In immediate danger, call 112.

Guidara: AI support in difficult life situations

As the founder of Guidara, I am developing an AI service whose goal is to help a person find reliable information, form a personal plan of action and handle things step by step. The first product, Kompas by Guidara, focuses on families going through a separation.

Kompas separates what is already known from what still needs to be checked.

Explore the Guidara demo In development

How Kompas thinks

An example of how Kompas structures a difficult situation.

  1. 1

    Already known

    What the matter is, who is involved and what has already been agreed.

  2. 2

    Still to check

    What needs verification: authorities, experts or documents.

  3. 3

    One next step

    A single concrete task that moves things forward.

The demo does not replace a professional assessment. In immediate danger, call 112.

Join the development of Guidara

Guidara is in development and has an introduction demo. I am looking for technical experts for the founding team, partners to evaluate and pilot the service, and investors, business incubators and accelerators to support commercialisation.

Collaboration themes

  • Technical development and building the founding team.
  • Evaluating the reliability and usability of service guidance.
  • Research collaboration and limited pilots.
  • Funding and building international business.

Ask about Guidara

1. Choose a topic

Approach

Goal first, then execution that works.

  1. 1

    I understand the situation.

    We review current operations, the most important need and the scope of the work.

  2. 2

    I make the way forward concrete.

    We agree on priorities, responsibilities, deliverables and how to evaluate success.

  3. 3

    I put what we agreed into practice.

    Depending on the agreed scope, the work moves from planning to a pilot, rollout support or operational delivery.

Ways of working and responsibilities are always agreed per assignment.

Proposal process

How a proposal comes together.

Every proposal is built around your business's situation. The process is free and without obligation until you accept the proposal.

  1. 1

    I ask about your needs

    A short conversation about your current situation, goals and timeline, to find the most important thing to solve.

  2. 2

    I plan

    I put together a written proposal: scope, phases, responsibilities and deliverables.

  3. 3

    We evaluate

    We go through the proposal together and assess workload, costs and success measures before you decide.

  4. 4

    I deliver

    Once the proposal is accepted, work follows the agreed plan with regular progress updates.

Collaboration that fits your needs.

  • Focused development project

    One identified need, agreed deliverables and a schedule.

  • Fractional operations management

    Agreed responsibility for coordinating and developing operations.

  • Advisory and development work

    Support in designing a service, an operating model or an AI pilot.

Scope, practical delivery and pricing are agreed based on your needs.

I oppose the Sakatti mine project from a tourism perspective — also when choosing partnerships. Campaign page: No Sakatti mine

Let's discuss your needs

About

Tuomas Hietala

Tuomas Hietala

I am a tourism operations and service development professional based in Luosto, Finnish Lapland. Over more than 20 years I have worked with accommodation, tourism services, staff, partner networks and international travel products.

I combine hands-on operations management with developing new services. In AI-related work I focus on how the use case, information, workflow steps and user needs come together into something that works.

Kompas by Guidara is a personal project for me. I have come through a long and demanding road in developing this tool. Its purpose is to support a person in a confusing life situation: Kompas separates what is already known from what still needs to be checked, and helps find one next step. The demo is at demo.guidara.ai.

In Sodankylä, a mine is being planned under the Viiankiaapa Natura 2000 mire area. I oppose the project from a tourism perspective: people come to Lapland for its intact nature — fells, open mires and clear waters — and that same nature is the foundation of the local tourism economy. On the campaign account @eisakattia I share compiled information about the project and about the company behind it, whose documented disputes elsewhere in the world are part of the picture.

I work in Finnish and English. How we collaborate is agreed based on the assignment and location.

Location
Luosto, Sodankylä, Lapland
Languages
Finnish, English
Consulting
Since 2005
LinkedIn profile Ei Sakattia campaign on Instagram Campaign page: No Sakatti mine

Short practical questions

What kind of assignments can I contact you about?

Tourism operations management, service development, partnerships, and designing AI-assisted workflows and services.

Can we start with something small?

Yes. The work can be scoped to, for example, an assessment, an action plan or a single pilot.

Can we work in English?

Yes. Finnish and English are my working languages.

How is pricing determined?

Pricing is agreed based on the goal, scope, responsibilities and delivery model.

Contact

Tell me what you want to improve.

Briefly describe your business and the main challenge you want to address. We can use that as the starting point for discussing a suitable scope of work.

Email

tuomas@guidara.ai

WhatsApp

+41 78 704 66 67I reply on WhatsApp
LinkedIn ↗

Your message comes straight to me. I usually reply within a couple of working days.