Antti Huttunen dreamed of being an entrepreneur since he was 18. The idea became a reality in 2011, when he and some friends started a business selling glass baby bottles. Huttunen had already come up with a name for the company: years earlier, he had spotted the word Jotuca in a CAPTCHA query and thought it would be a good name for the business. The friends ran Jotuca for six months, but then decided to prioritise their friendship. Huttunen bought out the others and put the company on hold.
Huttunen became a full-time entrepreneur six years ago. He had founded Retkipaikka, Finland's most popular nature tourism media, back in 2012. Around the time he jumped into entrepreneurship, Huttunen published his first books with Karttakeskus and ran the nature programme "Metsien kätkemä" for two seasons. Through Retkipaikka, he got an opportunity for cooperation with municipalities and tourist areas. Huttunen and a few other tourism entrepreneurs from Vihti founded the Nuuksio North Gate in the Salmi outdoor recreation area, and through this came contact with the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia. Soon Jotuca was asked to do digital marketing for Haltia, and the following year the company was chosen to implement Haltia's service activities. Huttunen also came up with the award-winning Wine in the Woods experience concept, which was launched in Vihti.
Lots of potential in the tourism sector
Antti Huttunen says that Vihti is featured in a lot of Retkipaikka's stories about hiking. Vihdin Matkailu ry was Jotuca's first customer on the tourism side. There has been close cooperation with the municipality of Vihti, and a joint project between the municipality and local tourism entrepreneurs is currently underway to develop the profile of Nuuksio Lakeland and the services it offers. More than half of the national park is located in Vihti.
Huttunen sees a lot of potential for tourism in Vihti.
"There are already tourism businesses here that are visible in the international media. Vihti is about half an hour's drive from the centre of Helsinki, so it's close to a large influx of tourists. The development of the western gateway to Nuuksio on the Vihti side is relevant and has a lot of potential. If the Nuuksio National Park expands, the fate of the Salmi outdoor recreation area owned by the City of Helsinki will become a current topic. Vihti has several manors with potential. There are also a lot of horses here. Makes one to think of all the unrealised potential in the area of equestrian tourism around here!" Huttunen lists.
Huttunen considers Vihti a good place for an entrepreneur to operate in.
"Cooperation with the municipality has worked really well. I have received business advice. I have also been able to raise issues that I see here, and in that way contribute to the development of the municipality. The municipality does not have to do everything, as the initiative has to come from the company itself. But if you want to get something done, solutions are found and things move forward quickly."
Huttunen says that Vihti is a "human-sized" municipality: both small enough and big enough, and the location is excellent and the services are comprehensive. The municipality has a lot of business experience and expertise in its decision-making level. Great partners and those the best in their field are available when things need to get done.